Digimon Legacy
by yo11110
Summary: Sequel to Digimon Reboot. Victories leave behind legacies, but so do losses. A year after the Digi-Destined had returned from their final fight, peace had been brought about. But it was short-lived as a new evil rose and began to threaten the hard-earned peace. It was now up to a new team to get things settled. All OCs
1. A message

**Spoiler Alert! Read Book 1 First!**

 **You have been warned fairly!**

* * *

-A Message-

He peeked from behind trees, and saw exactly what he needed.

Nothing that'd happened in the pass year could probably delight him more than the sight of the giant concrete walls, with large letters that stated "KEEP OUT" in a fading red paint. The gray concrete was one of his concerns, though, having yet to find a means to get through those doors.

"It feels like I only took off yesterday," said the boy, "looks like some water source can really drive me mad."

The tiny white Digimon, having a body size so small that he could just be on his shoulders, replied. "Then what are we waiting for?"

"We're waiting for me to get ready to walk." Said him, rising up slowly from the small water pod that had relieved him for the last couple of days. As he did so the Digimon on his shoulder disappeared.

* * *

 _Kaoru Ishiguro, born 3012-5-12AD, died 3026-3-20_

Yuzuki looked at the tomb, like she'd done for the pass year. Exactly a year had passed, and yet everything seemed to be so different that it felt like a decade had passed already. Ever since the Digi-Destined returned from the Digital World, everything changed all in a sudden. The first and foremost of them had been the acceptance to Digimon of the citizens. Everything they'd known about the raid one year ago had just been that some Digimon had used some means to try to take over the city, and two certain teenagers, along with their Digimon partners, had tried hard to protect the only country left. It had only been since the return of the Digi-Destined from the other side could they realize that the entire Digital World was still there, and that someone had fought so hard behind them.

Then came the more decisive part. Someone, from the officials, had claimed the technology that had allowed Piedmon to travel between the two worlds, and had successfully utilized it to allow the travel between the Digital World and the Human World. Despite that, normal civilians had yet to be allowed to get into the Digital World. It had only been the privilege of the Destined that all thirteen of them were able to go through the two worlds.

And last but not least, there had been the rediscovery of an ancient career know as Tamers, in which a human partners himself or herself with a Digimon, with which most of them being teenagers. There had first been tones of them appearing on the streets all in a sudden, without any restrictions, alas, illegal. Therefore another thing appeared –the officials, for better control and supervision, had set up a registration system, and that had led to one of the most recent and disturbing concern of Yuzuki.

That wasn't too much of a big deal, to be honest, but that just triggered the black-haired girl's weak point that she had done very hard to oppose to that idea –they had been proposing to build an institute, used to train the Tamers for future "usage". In fact, all that happened just within the first month of the Digi-Destined's return, and now they hadn't only built the institute, but had also gained quite a fame, and had held a tournament for young Tamers in memorial of the setting up of it.

* * *

 _11 months ago_ _…_

 _Yuzuki and Jesmon, walking beside Katashi and GrapLeomon, entered the room where they had been_ _told._ _Within were the Digi-Destined, all nine of them, with the addition of Elsa and LadyDevimon. Despite not having seen the girl and the ultimate together in person, the black-haired girl had heard of them from Katashi, and wasn_ _'_ _t quite surprised to see them. They all sat on either sides of an oval table, in which the far end sat Smith himself._

" _I shouldn_ _'_ _t be surprised,_ _"_ _uttered Katashi. As one of the few who_ _'_ _d had more contact with the flame-eyed man, he_ _'_ _d known that the man had attended the position of a kind of special defense force, or to be simple, he_ _'_ _d become the official manager of the Digi-Destined, as well as any Tamer in the streets._ _"_ _Would you mind telling me what do you have in mind this time?_ _"_ _asked the brown-haired boy, knowing that the man had always not been fully honest even to the Destined._

" _Pleas take your seats first,_ _"_ _offered Smith politely. As soon as every single one of them was in the room, he_ _started_ _to announce,_ _"_ _As you all know, there has been a number of humans partnering with Digimon lately, who call themselves Tamers,_ _"_

 _The Destined listened engagingly._

" _There has been too many of them, in fact, that it has become quite a problem for someone above my position, who insisted that their presences need to be monitored._ _"_

" _And how are you suggesting to do so, and how are we all apart involved, Mr._ _Chancellor_ _?_ _"_ _questioned Amy sarcastically._

 _TigerVespamon, who'_ _d been with Amy since his partner_ _had died, said, "_ _And why should we listen to you?_ _"_

 _Smith, ignoring all the questions and doubts, proceeded,_ _"_ _They asked me for a solution to control the situation, and_ _I_ _have come up with one._ _"_ _Said him as he paused, and stared at each of the Destined with a powerful gaze._ _"_ _I proposed to set up an_ _institute_ _, a bit like a school, specialized for Tamers, so as to make them all a part of the legal_ _society_ _as well as to give them a chance to learn what it actually takes to be a Tamer, like you did._ _"_

" _Are you crazy?_ _"_ _asked Yuzuki furiously,_ _"_ _Your plan is to set up a, say, military school, and let those kids be a part of your army? Is that supposed to get the situation better?_ _"_

" _You have to calm down,_ _"_ _advised Katashi, whispering to the girl._

" _It is an_ _undeniable_ _fact that Tamers had started to show up, like it or not,_ _"_ _corrected Smith,_ _"_ _and it is my duty to keep them as safe as possible. I knew there would be oppositions, like you, that_ _'_ _s why_ _I_ _called this meeting._ _"_

" _Why us?_ _"_ _asked Ryosuke,_ _"_ _Aren_ _'_ _t you supposed to ask your Tamers out there?_ _"_

" _You are the face of all Tamers around the world,_ _"_ _said Smith,_ _"_ _they appeared_ _because_ _of what you did to safe the world, and that_ _'_ _s why you_ _'_ _re the most_ _influential_ _among them. I called you all here to vote, whether to set up the institute or not. So please value your opportunity._ _"_

" _I say no,_ _"_ _declared Yuzuki immediately,_ _"_ _you_ _'_ _re putting them in a dangerous situation, trying to get them to fight like we did. They_ _'_ _re just kids!_ _"_

" _So are we._ _"_ _Argued Elsa._

" _And look what have become of us._ _"_ _Uttered the black haired girl_ _grievously_ _._

" _I go with Yuzuki,_ _"_ _stated Jesmon._

" _So do we._ _"_ _Said Katashi and GrapLeomon._

" _I think you_ _'_ _re taking this a bit too emotionally,_ _"_ _muttered Elsa,_ _"_ _Whether you like it or not,_ _I_ _have no intention of being chased by a mob of crazy robots, with no one else to help me, again. Yes,_ _I_ _agree with Smith that we should set up the institute, at least that way some more backups can be provided._ _"_

 _LadyDevimon said the same._

" _I_ _'_ _m out of this._ _"_ _Uttered Amy, getting out of her seat._

" _What do you mean_ _'_ _out of this_ _'_ _?_ _"_

" _I choose neither side, get it?_ _And_ _so did Meramon._ _"_ _As she said so both she and Meramon left the room._ _"_ _We_ _'_ _ll be waiting outside. Happy arguing._ _"_

" _What about you?_ _"_

" _You know, I_ _'_ _m really against training young kids like so,_ _"_ _said Eiji,_ _"_ _But, we do need more. We are not_ _enough_ _. Had there been more then just six of us, there wouldn_ _'_ _t have been_ _tragedies_ _like Renias and Hepia. I say yes._ _"_

" _I really don_ _'_ _t think we should do this._ _"_ _Said MetalPhantomon,_ _"_ _No._ _"_

" _I say yes, same reason with Eiji._ _"_ _Said Ryosuke._

" _So do I._ _"_ _Declared_ _Lillymon X and Pteramon._

" _I don_ _'_ _t think Kaoru would want this._ _"_ _Uttered TigerVespamon._

" _Well, he_ _'_ _s not here, and guess why? There could_ _'_ _ve another way had there been more of you._ _"_ _Said Elsa._

" _I choose no._ _,"_ _insisted TigerVespamon._

" _Then it_ _'_ _s up to you, Mr. Saikachi._ _"_ _Announced Smith._

 _Takumi held up both hands, resting his head on them. It was really a hard decision for him to make. Not only was he not used to be the decision-maker, but also because he was placed in the middle between two parties that had all once been his friends. Judging from Yuzuki_ _'_ _s emotional over-reaction, he could say for certain that he_ _'_ _d lose her as a friend forever if he said yes, but objectively he_ _couldn't_ _say it better to not set up the institute._

" _Just give me a second,_ _"_ _murmured him, closing his eyes, apparently troubled by the decision-making. For a second he fell completely silent, but then he said,_ _"_ _Eiji was right. I_ _'_ _m sorry, but this,_ _I_ _mustn_ _'_ _t be emotional, if there had been more like us, less would_ _'_ _ve died. I_ _'_ _m sorry._ _"_

" _Then it_ _'_ _s settled._ _"_ _Announced Smith._

* * *

Yuzuki kept staring at the grave, completely lost in thoughts as someone placed a bunch of Gladiolus in front of the gravestone. Yuzuki turned around, and saw Katashi standing next to her.

"I don't really know what flower to use." Said the brown-haired boy, kneeling before the grave next to Yuzuki. "I'm sorry, I can't say any more but that." Said him. "I should have been with you." He'd been doing so since he'd left Rn on his last birthday, when his parents had moved their entire family to Vetiro, which they thought would be the best choice to allow them to spend more time with Katashi. It was about the same time when the Digi-Destined had returned. Upon learning the devastating fact that Yuzuki had fallen in love with Kaoru, and that the latter had died during their task in the Digital World, Katashi had been trying his best to comfort the black-haired girl. Almost every weekend he would go to Rn, and spend his time with Yuzuki, mainly to stop her from crying.

Yuzuki, on the other hand, hadn't known how to deal with the brown-haired boy's care. She knew why he'd been doing all that, and she felt guilty for accepting his aid, having known that Katashi had had some feelings toward her, and that she had chosen Kaoru instead of him, while the brown-haired boy would still care for her so much when he should be mad with her, or be glad that his competition was gone. The thought was another part that sickened the black-haired girl. Ever since her return from the Digital World she hadn't been able to be herself again, always being alert and judging people with their worst intention without seeing their good side.

"It's almost time for us to go," said her distractedly. "Jesmon and GrapLeomon should be waiting for us."

"If you don't want, you don't need to force yourself." Advised Katashi. The two of them had been given the mission of giving speeches as guests at the Institute, the very place where Yuzuki had refused to build. Still, she'd taken the offer, considering that as a step for her getting over her psychological trauma. Katashi, on the other hand, could tell clearly that she wasn't ready, and that she was forcing herself to be what she needed to be.

"I have to," replied the black-haired girl, "I can't just hide for my entire life. It's time for me to face it, once and for all."

"Glad to hear that from you," said Katashi, forcing a smile, "just want to make sure that you're completely fine doing this."

"It's getting late while we're talking like this." Said Yuzuki, standing up and turning away from Kaoru's grave."

* * *

As expected, there were literally tones of students there, in which every single one of them had a Digimon partner by their sides, sitting in the hall that could be enough for two football courts, listening engagingly to the stage before the four of them were even there.

Just when she walked out of the backstage, there was a surge of nervousness that came over her, telling her that she'd made the wrong decision. She allowed her sight to escaped the audience for a while, but then felt gradually finer and ascended her gaze upon the audience that had waited eagerly downstage. Needless to say, since the time of their return, she'd automatically become one of the many role models of these teenagers.

As she scanned through the audience, however, one strange feeling occurred to her. Next to the far right corner she saw a young girl with long pink hair, approximately a few years older than her, staring at her. For a moment she thought of her a special kind of feeling, like she knew this pink-haired lady somehow, yet within seconds she couldn't help but get her sight off the girl, like her mind was telling her not to focus on her. She tried for once to look at her again, but somehow her eyes just wouldn't focus upon seeing the girl, and so she gave up.

"Everything all right?" whispered Katashi.

"I'm fine," replied Yuzuki.

"Remember, just to make ourselves easier, stick to the script."

"Stick to the script."

And so things went on rather smoothly, both the Destined and the Non-Destined shared their experiences as the first Tamers of the time and, much to Katashi's relief, Yuzuki didn't undergo any mental breakdown, at least not visible ones. Their Digimon partners proceeded in sharing their roles, attracting every attention of the audience as they spoke. Digimon, previously discriminated by many a human, had now earned their rightful place on the stage.

The true problem didn't come before the MC said, "And now for the question and answer section. Would anyone of you there like to ask our guests for some comments? Remember, this is a rare chance and might not come again any time sooner."

Despite having known the coming of this part, it still made Katashi nervous. They'd prepared almost every single question they thought the Tamers could come up with, and had drafted the answers rather thoroughly. The first question was asked, concerning how the two balance their lives as Tamers and normal persons. Katashi managed to get that over, by simply saying that troubles don't come everyday, and that their friends, families would understand their duty.

Them came a second one, asking the Destined whether or not did she think Tamers could once again be a trend again and could they be the same as those years ago and protect the world. That was an easy one, too, until the third one came.

"I want to ask Ms. Satonaka." A girl stood up, "We all know that your team have suffered lots of losses. I want to know how you deal with all that, especially concerning the death of one of your teammates?"

That hit the girl hard and precisely. Before she even noticed, her legs had already started shivering, followed by her arms. She stared at the audience without a blink; her jaws half opened; her expression blank. The girl that had asked the question might be a foolish one, for there were clear instructions that these kind of emotion-evoking questions were not recommended. Yet, what was done was done, and there was no turning back. Jesmon first noticed his partner's breakdown, followed with Katashi. Without hesitation he walked and grabbed a microphone, saying. "I'm afraid this is the end of our sharing today. We are very honored to be here." And with that he helped Yuzuki return to the backstage.

* * *

Yuzuki leaned back against a wall in the backstage, sitting on the floor with both her hands supporting her heavy head. For a moment she thought she was going to cry, but she didn't feel like it. It was more horrible, to be asked the question she'd been evading. To be totally honest she would say that she had yet to find a way to deal with these losses, and that she had had the worst idea with these things, having even asked Amy if she could erase her memory, to make her forget everything that hurt so much, only to be replied with that. " _Even if_ _I_ _can,_ _I_ _won_ _'_ _t do it. It is your experience that makes you who you are. All the good and the bad, they are part of you, and_ _you can'_ _t just throw them away at will. All you can do is to_ _accept_ _them and go on._ "

"You've done well," said Katashi in a failed attempt to comfort her.

She didn't answer the boy. All she could think of at the moment was the battle at the secret chamber of Piedmon. " _How many more shall die in your name?_ " and she remembered well how she'd answered the diabolical villain. " _You_ _'_ _ll be the last one._ "

"I couldn't save him," mumbled Yuzuki, trembling, "Only if I have been more focused, he wouldn't have died."

"He died to protect you!" said Katashi, a bit out of control. "How would he think if he saw you behaving like this? You can't waste his life!"

"That's exactly the point," murmured Yuzuki, "I should've been the one instead of him. He was trying to save me…"

"Maybe we should just give her more time," said Jesmon softly, stepping up. Despite saying that, he knew exactly that his partner might very well not be able to fully recover. After all, he'd been with her all the year, and had seen her not being able to shake the matter off her head. Still, he had to be on the positive side when things seemed worst. Even if his partner was to go down, he couldn't very well do the same with her.

"I'm sorry, I was a bit harsh on that," apologized the brown-haired boy. When the tension between them worsened, a call came, giving a turn in the matter.

"Hello, how can I help you?"

"If I am correct you should be in Vertiro, at the Institute right now?" came the voice of Smith. From that moment on Katashi already knew that something wrong was up again, seeing that Smith, who was now in charge of the actions of the Digi-Destined, hadn't called them for a long while. "I need you two to get to Xe right now."

"What happened there?" asked Katashi, "and can you send someone else there? We're having some conditions here."

"What's it?" asked Yuzuki.

"It's Smith. He wants us at Xe." Answered GrapLeomon before his partner could stop him.

"I've asked him to send someone else." Replied Katashi. "I…"

"Fine, I'll go." Uttered Yuzuki. "Just in time for some distraction. Come on, Jesmon." Without waiting for the brown-haired boy, she'd already gone, leaving Katashi no choice but to follow. After all, if the mission Smith gave them contained potential threat, which was usually true, she'd need backup under that kind of state.

"Keep a close eye on her, can you?" he asked GrapLeomon.

"I've always been."

* * *

He looked behind, noticing something swarming behind him. This wasn't the first time he'd seen something like that. Out there, there's always something running after random targets, and most of the time he could just hide behind something and wait until the wild Digimon ran out of their strength and went elsewhere, but not this time. He was so close to his destination that he decided to take the risk, try to outrun the swarm that had, for unknown reason, made him the target.

"Might need your help, Kudamon." Uttered the boy. The Digimon that was resting on his shoulder jumped swiftly onto the ground and started to glow, turning into a horse-like Digimon that was covered in green scales and had a pair of wings with silvery white feathers.

"Let's hope I'm fast enough." Uttered the horse-like Digimon as the boy got on his back, taking a riding pose. The Digimon was, though not shown, worried for his partner's health condition. Still, he pretended to be normal and said, "Ready?"

"Ready when you are."

* * *

"So, what makes you want us to check the walls of Xe?" asked Katashi, "I don't think anything's wrong here."

"Our tech here reads something unusual." Answered Smith. "I think is best to have a check."

"With two of us?" asked Katashi. "I meant four."

"Please get to the walls first, and I'll let you know if there's any necessity of taking action."

The four of them, within half an hour, had reached the walls. There everything seemed just fine, with the same old dusty and rusty surface of the weathered concrete walls that stood high enough to block the sight of half of the sky above horizon. Next to it were guards who didn't seem to be enjoying their duty of standing there all day without doing much. Usually, it'd be quite an entertainment to watch murderous Digimon being banished outside the only living city in the world. Yet the number of it had decreased drastically since the rise of the Tamers, probably due to more and more dangerous Digimon being taken care of before the officials could find out.

"Sometimes I wonder," mumbled Yuzuki, "If Digimon can become an egg and rebirth after death, why aren't those Digimon given a chance to live a new life?"

"I don't know," uttered GrapLeomon, "but maybe –just maybe –before the Tamers show up, the police can't do much damage to a Digimon."

"Whatever the case is, it seems that the walls are useless now." Commented Jesmon.

"I still don't see much odd things going on." Muttered Katashi, giving another phone call. "Are you sure there's something wrong here, Mr. Smith?"

"Our readings show that a large number of Digimon is outside the wall, and they are moving towards the wall." Instructed their superior.

"The last time you say that, it ended up thousands of Chaosdramon X landing into the Human World."

"It's just a check."

"Right." Sighed Katashi. He then turned to Yuzuki and said. "Stay here, I'll go check if everything's okay. It's quite quick really, just a peek outside the bullet-proof window."

Yuzuki, on the other hand, felt like she was treated differently, which was partially true in this case, and said. "I can handle this. I have more experience than you, after all."

"Just let him do this," uttered GrapLeomon, "he'll blame himself if you are to join in. you know, he really cares about you, just pretend you need his protection, maybe? That way he'll feel better."

"Finished, Leomon?" asked Katashi, already at the window. The guards didn't really care much about their appearance there, partially because they're VIPs, partially because they just didn't care much if anybody's around there. Thinking that everything's fine, and that nothing could possibly happen with a little check, the brown-haired boy leaned forward, sticking his eye to the glass, with the thought that he would see only the sand and the shady sky, as taught in the lessons.

What he saw, however, surprised him more than anything could. So surprised was he that he jerked back immediately, not believing his own eyes. GrapLeomon just arrived when he did that, and asked if anything weird was out there. Katashi didn't answer immediately; peeking out of the window one more time to ensure that what he'd just seen wasn't just a mirage. So startled was he that he didn't even realize how dramatic his widely opened eyes and hugely dropped jaws were.

"Open the gate," mumbled him to Smith as he once again gained the vision out there.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're right. There's a bunch of Digimon out there, probably Flymon, chasing another Digimon, a green one. And, there's a human on top of the green one. Did I mention how close to the gate are the human and the green one? It seems that they're escaping the Flymon, and the Flymon are trying hard to get them, firing all the way." He didn't realize that he said all that in within ten seconds.

"What's the matter?" asked Yuzuki, arriving at Katashi's spot.

Katashi then explained in a much simpler manner that, outside the walls, he saw a wild chase between two parties in which one of them, the ones being chased, consisted of a Digimon and, much to the girl's surprise as well, a human being, apparently not much older than they were, who seemed to be barely conscious, being held on the Digimon's back without much motion. The other party, being a wild wave of Flymon, was attacking constantly, without much hesitation to withhold any of their strength.

"Mr. Smith?" asked Katashi again, much more anxiously, "there's someone out there being chased, open the gate or I'll make the guards do it!"

"You do understand what you'll have to face if I do?" questioned the middle-aged man.

"Just do it," uttered Katashi impatiently, "I think we can handle a bunch of Champions."

There weren't any further responses, at least not in words. The giant, dull gray wall started to move, with a thin yet tall gap appearing between the mid points of it. The gap then became wider and wider gradually, with noises indicating that giant gears, probably rusted, were functioning to satisfy the Tamers. The next incoming noise was way more annoying, being a buzzing sound so loud that it sounded almost like it was coming from within the Tamers' head, vibrating frequently, so frequently that it probably could've made its way to the ears of a handicapped.

"Bees," muttered GrapLeomon, "They just don't stop making that noise."

"That's very insulting to one of my friends." Commented Jesmon.

Before they could even decide what to do, Katashi said, "Yuzuki, go look after that man there. GrapLeomon and I will hold anyone that tries to come in. Jesmon can be there in case any of them gets through us."

It never really worked, however, at least not as he had expected. The green Digimon, identified as Chirinmon, an Ultimate with a Vaccine attribute, rushed in as soon as the walls were opened wide enough. Not too far behind were the Flymon, all appearing mad, jetting towards the opening.

"Take care of them for now." Half-demanded Katashi as he and GrapLeomon rushed to the opening of the walls. Soon after he'd informed Smith to get the walls closed back up, they were ready to face whatever that was coming in their way.

"Brown Stingers!" roared the swarm of the wasp-like Digimon. So unified were the cries that it was a bit of a hard time withstanding the nosiness as the Flymon started to drop the pointed, yet a bit irregular stings, all flying at the same direction towards GrapLeomon.

"Let's see if it works," muttered GrapLeomon before he raised both his fists into the air and yelled, "The King of Fist!" the turbines on his forearms started rotating, reaching their maximum speed in no time. just before the stings could reach him and his partner, the Ultimate pulled his two forearms together, hitting each other hard, unleashing an energy wave that shocked through the air particles, causing the needles to went into different directions to either poles of the walls and fell gradually.

The Flymon –though affected in a large number –managed to have a few of them left hovering midair to continue the raid. Those that remained escaped the energy wave and soared through the air at top speed, rushing towards the gap between the walls. In no time the Flymon had already gone within the reach of GrapLeomon.

"Cyclonic Kick!" jumping high up in the air, using the two sides of the enclosing walls as leaping platforms, the Ultimate reached the height of the Flymon, with his leg rising above his own head as the turbine on his leg rotated. Accurately aiming he got one Flymon down, sending it plugging towards the sandy ground out there. While still airborne GrapLeomon managed to kick a few more out, but he couldn't be as accurate every time, leaving some of them, which were actually around a dozen, flying into the city unharmed.

Those that managed to get through GrapLeomon, however, had thrown themselves into a much greater adversity. Jesmon stood behind the gates prepared, with his blades extended all the way to the ground. He waited, for the Flymon to come, and when they reached just right above him, he jumped vertically upward, knocking one out of his way and directing it to hit another while slashing another one on his right. In the meantime, he did a three-sixty rotation in the air, allowing his blade on his tail to reach out as far a possible and hit as many targets as he could. With some chain reaction in which the Flymon crashed into one an other and fall spontaneously, the fight was over.

Yuzuki, though wanting to be battling more than the job she was assigned to, reached Chirinmon, who didn't seem to be noticing her approaching until she was a within a few inch of his reach.

"I mean no harm," stated the black-haired girl, reaching out for the emerald-scaled Digimon while putting her hands in the air, "I just want to help."

Chirinmon, being amazing and unexpectedly cooperative, stopped and turned his head slightly round to the girl. The human being on his back could now be seen more clearly, as he struggled to get off the Ultimate's back. His landing was an unsuccessful one as he landed with his stomach facing the ground.

It was astonishment when Yuzuki saw that the boy was literally not much older than her in appearance. But what struck her was the boy's totally unbelievable physical appearance. He was –estimated by the girl, imagining that he were standing –roughly a bit taller than most boy's of that age, with middle-length, messy black hair and a hint of black eyes coming out from the small gap of his closing eyes. His entire upper torso was exposed, showing that he was a bit muscular in terms of body build. It also gave Yuzuki the impression that this boy had –as hard as it was to believe –been strayed out there for quite some time. around his waist was a piece of grayish-green cloth that could've once been his shirt, and on his lower torso was a pair of tan trousers, with about five holes placed randomly on it, and untidy ends that ended when the cloth reached the boy's ankle. His shoes, though not as damaged, were considered by civilian standard as "not usable".

"What happened to him?" asked the black-haired girl. Before she could get any answers, however, Chirinmon started to glow, Degenerating back into a small white Digimon with a long, scarf-like body that wrapped around a roll of some scroll-like material. Without giving out any answers, the Digimon, as identified as Kudamon, disappeared.

"Wait, what about him?" she didn't have much time to still thinking, however, as the others came by. The boy was in clear need for medical attention, and she didn't want to waste much time delaying it.

"What the hell?" uttered Katashi in disbelief as he arrived.

"Can you help me lift him up?" Yuzuki asked her partner. "We need to get him to a hospital, or somewhere like that."

Without a word Jesmon obeyed, and as he got the unconscious boy lifted, something fell off him. It was a strange little metallic object that looked completely opposite to what its supposed owner dressed like. It felt like a device, with a shape that bore the appearance of the Digi-Destined's Digivices, only it didn't have any screens or buttons.

"I know what to do," mumbled Katashi as he got his phone next to his ears again, "Mr., Smith, we're in great need of backups right now. There's a boy who just got here from outside the walls with the need for medical attention, and a strange device carried by him." This time, he gave no time for Smith to say another word by cutting the line right off.

* * *

 **It feels so good to be back with these super long author note! Well, it took me longer than I thought, but I had to make sure I have at least ten chapters in stock to do a regular update.**

 **For those who'd read book 1 and found it disappointing that I changed the protagonist into Katashi, just live with it. I know he didn't feel important in the first book, because I initially intended that he only be a regular friendly-neightboorhood character. I didn't even plan to give him a Digimon partner. But as the story progressed, and his relationship with Yuzuki getting complex, I saw more potential in him than in Yuzuki, so she had to give away her role as the protagoinst.**

 **Anyway, be sure to follow and give reviews to the story. It really helps me achieve a sense of satisfaction.**


	2. A warning

-A Warning-

The door of the medical room was as far as they could go. Having sent the mysterious boy from outside the walls to the hospital the two Tamers were called immediately to report to Smith, at the former training center of the city's forces, where every single legacy left behind by Piedmon was found and used properly. It had now become the major station to travel between the Digital World and the Human World, also a place for the Destined to meet up, though they'd left that function unused for the pass year.

The truth of the old Destined team was that, as soon as they returned to Ventrium, they had disbanded. Almost every single one of them went back to their home region, and only communicated with one another through medias. The voting had been the last time they'd seen each other face-to-face, and they'd never contacted each other since then. Apparently everyone had gone back to their normal lives, with the only exception being Yuzuki. Even Amy, who'd disappeared, had not been reported having any special actions lately.

"I think I still need a minute or two for this whole thing," mumbled Katashi as the nurses closed the door and shut them out of the room. The boy they'd found had been observed with several indications that he wasn't waking up any sooner, and might as well fell into a coma for another unknown period of time.

"How's someone out there? I thought we were the only humans left." Mumbled him again.

"Worse, why hadn't they come to us until now?" remarked Yuzuki.

"And in that fashion," commented GrapLeomon, "if nothing bad had happened he wouldn't have come like that, right?"

"We've got way more than that to ask," said Katashi, stopping the millions of questions that would come at anytime. "But for now, let's focus on that thing with him first." Said him, taking out the little Digivice-like object. It seemed to him to be like a prototype of something, like his own Digivice. In fact, the dull gray color of the object and the not-nicely polished edges were similar, too. "Why would a device be built without any buttons?"

"Well, we're never the engineers," uttered Yuzuki, "let's get it to the tech team."

"Wait," said Katashi in a sudden, "maybe you should show it to Takumi first; he might be interested in it."

"Actually, I haven't seen him for quite some time."

There wasn't much time for the unease to last, however, as Jesmon pointed out. "Yuzuki, he's here."

Along the corridor came Smith himself, with his dark red eyes flickering with the lights and his black suit as menacing as always. Without much word he approached the Tamers while gesturing for the nurses nearby to resume their own job and give them space to talk; he was of a slight fame too, by that time.

"It's nice to see you again in person." Remarked him. The first subject he brought out, however, was straight business. "I'd like to have your discovery handed to the techs and have them do a full check on it."

"So many things happened at once, and all you care is this little device?" uttered the brown-haired boy, though he'd kind of foreseen that coming. "A boy's there in a coma, and you aren't showing the least care; you didn't even seem to be all too shocked when I first told you someone was outside." Said Katashi in a somewhat disgusted tone. Having gotten to known this man, he'd learned that things –lots of things –were being hidden from them, and that he wasn't all the way agreeing with that secrets-keeping. "Just how many more are you hiding from us?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Yuzuki, not knowing too well her friend's reference.

"If he'd told us about…" started Katashi, only to be stopped by himself. He would probably have spoken that if Smith had told them about his suspicion towards the former president, things might not have taken such a turn and the Digi-Destined might not even have had to go to the Digital World, which would bring up the topic regarding Kaoru's death again. With that thought, and with Yuzuki by his side, he decided it best of him to shut up for good, never to bring the matter up again, and so he said, "Well, those were just minorities."

"I don't know whence you temper came from, Mr. Tadokoro, but I can assure you that I'm here for nothing more than that delicate object which you withheld from us." Answered Smith coldly. Sometimes, Yuzuki, being an outsider of the matter, couldn't really tell why Katashi would've worked with Smith in the first place with their tense relation. Neither of them seemed to like one another, with Katashi showing some obvious hatred towards the older man, possibly due to some of his decisions that had directly opened up the scars of the black-haired girl, which she'd tried so hard to left behind.

"Well, if you want it, have it," replied Katashi, handing he device to Smith coldly.

"I'll let you know if we can find anything from it."

* * *

"Sorry for getting you stuck here for the day," apologized Katashi. It had been intended that Yuzuki would just show up in the Institute for like five minutes or so, and then she'd just have to go home. But it had turned out that they'd had to travel to Xe to clean up a mess, and then only to travel back to Vertiro to make everything "under control".

"You should know you are not the only one who cares for the matter." Remarked Jesmon.

"I know. It's just, it's getting dark already," said the brown-haired boy, "by the time you make it back to Rn it's be like three in the morning."

"Actually, I've addressed my parents that I'd still here for the night." Informed Yuzuki, "and they had agreed."

Katashi wanted to something else, but before he could, Liollmon said, "I remember he hadn't shown you his new place." He said it casually, causing Katashi to blush a little. "Safe you some money, you know." The rookie added.

"I don't mind spending a little…" said Yuzuki, feeling awkward, only to be interrupted by Katashi.

"Actually, I think my parents may be happy to see you around," said the brown-haired boy. Initially he would have scolded Liollmon for putting him in that position, yet he was a bit embarrassed to decline an offer he had already offered, feeling mean. In fact, a very little portion of him actually did want Yuzuki to stay, having known the black-haired girl's mental issue, and had just seen her worst (probably, as seen by him) mental breakdown, he had no excuse for leaving her unattended in a place she didn't know well.

Yuzuki, on the other hand, found it hard both to accept or to decline the offer. Choosing the latter was a bit inappropriate for her, seeing that Katashi intended only to take care of her. But to choose the first proved to be more unacceptable by her. She had, after all, known that Katashi had a little, if not by much, romantic feelings towards her, and she had chosen Kaoru instead of him, which basically means that Kaoru should post as an enemy to Katashi. Yet, the brown-haired boy was now offering to help Yuzuki get pass the trauma that was caused by Kaoru. If she did say yes to Katashi, she would be ashamed of herself even more, seeing that Katashi had already helped her much, and she had been feeling that she didn't deserve that much, being the one who was stuck between the two boys.

Still, she chose the first option, staying with Katashi's family for the rest of the day. "Well, I guess I'll have to make a call first. Can't just stay here and tell nothing to my parents."

* * *

It was already late at night, and, theoretically, everybody in the house was already fast asleep. Yet a mysteriously alerting sound caused the attention of the half-slept Katashi, causing him to go off bed and check it out. It was nothing to a usual person's hearing, just a slight click that could indicate nothing more than some unstable stuffs' falling off shelf. Nonetheless, for unknown reason, Katashi immediately thought of Yuzuki. Worried, he got to her guest room at once.

Near the half-opened door, on the shadowed floored, there was a triangular area shone by a dim yellow light. Instantly the brown-haired boy could tell that the lamp in Yuzuki's room was still lit, and thus she was yet to be asleep. With reference to her recent mental issues, as well as his own concern as a friend, he pulled the door all the way open gently and slowly.

The black-haired girl was on bed –or rather, sitting on the bed –with a blanket covering most of her. Next to her was the low shelf on which the lamp stood, and right at the legs of it was the Yuzuki's bag.

"Sorry, I disturbed you." Whispered the black-haired girl as she picked up the bag and placed it tidily next to the shelf. "I knocked it off accidentally."

"Well, nice to see you're fine," replied Katashi, "I was worrying if you're…have you been sweating?" the tiny droplets of water on the girl's forehead could hardly escape his sight, along with the fact that she admitted she "knocked off" the bag and that a lamp was turned on, he could only come to one conclusion. "Were you having bad dreams?"

"I'm fine," answered Yuzuki, with her tone betraying her feelings.

"You're not fine." observed Katashi.

"You don't understand," whispered Yuzuki, her voice filled with misery, "Nobody does."

"Then make me understand."

"You weren't there." Began the black-haired girl. "Things –all that terrible things –they just keep popping back to me. All those zombies and good guys that were killed and…" tears started to find their way out of her eyelids as she said so.

"You don't have to say it out," whispered Katahsi, "you just need to know that we'll always be there with you; you don't have to go through this alone."

 _And that_ _'_ _s another reason why_ _I_ _don't_ _want to talk to you._ Though Yuzuki, being trapped between her own struggling emotions. But how could she say that out? Next to her was her childhood friend, and perhaps the only friend outside of the destined she had right at the moment, owing to that she'd become more and more unsociable due to the events in the Digital World, and yet she didn't even know how to treat the kindness he offered. "I guess you can just leave me alone, give me some time."

"Well then, I'll just be next door if you need me." Said Katashi as he walked back to his own room. As much as he'd like to believe that the black-haired girl was going to be fine, he kept having the thought that, somehow, he just couldn't leave her unattended, like he knew she was just acting tough, with her already suck acting.

* * *

She never said a thing to him as she walked down to the train station with Jesmon.

In fact, it was her that had been avoiding conversation with Katashi, _The sooner_ _I_ _go, the better it_ _'_ _ll be._ She kept reminding herself. The whole incident the day before had occupied some of her mind earlier the day, but she'd forgotten about that already as her mind automatically shifted back to the relationship between her and Katashi.

"You really don't need to say a goodbye?" remarked Jesmon as they arrived at the platform, starting the long wait for the train.

"It's not like we're not gonna see each other ever again." replied Yuzuki. "It's gonna be long wait; the train's never on time."

But that wasn't particularly true this time; from far away, right where the visible end of the railway lay, there came a tremendous illumination, with two cones of yellow light coming closer and closer as the squeezing sounds of metals rubbing against each other and disturbing noise of alarms rose. Yuzuki kept telling herself it was just something she'd see out of her mind, but it was real, and she never hesitated for a moment to respond to the train of events that was about to come.

* * *

"You sure you're not following her?" asked Liollmon for perhaps the third time in the day.

"She'll be alright, I suppose," replied Katashi, "besides, I have to respect her choice."

"That's a bit weird," commented the Rookie, "you were all worried yesterday and now you seem like a totally different person."

"I can't just do whatever I want," said Katashi, "at least, not when she seems like she wants to be as far away from me as possible." With that said, he resumed his normal routine, which consisted of nothing at all. Most of the time at weekends he really didn't need much plans, mostly spending his time in Rn with Yuzuki. A sudden change in that pattern had really made him feel somewhat unaccustomed. Without much to do, he turned on the TV causally; with the first thing he saw almost blowing up his mind.

It was the news of a serious of sudden crashes and explosions at the train station, believed to be caused by an off-track train.

"I change my mind now." Mumbled the brown-haired boy as he rushed out of his apartment, not even awaiting his partner.

* * *

"Everybody run!" shouted Jesmon as soon as he noticed the cause of all the strange lighting and noises. In no time, the off-road train would crash into the station; whoever in that train would certainly be doomed, but those on the platform weren't. The people around weren't all that stupid, either, having acknowledged the strange happenings mere seconds ago. As soon as the white-armored dragon warned them, there were no more individual persons to be seen, only a cloud of people storming the various exits for their lives.

"We should get out of here as well." Uttered Jesmon as he grabbed Yuzuki by her waist and dashed as far away from the incoming train as possible. The crowd of people had made exiting via regular entrance impossible. Scanning the environment rapidly, the Mega leaped forward, gripped his free hand at a pillar near the other end of the railway and threw himself upwards, landing on the roof of the station, hoping to avoid serious damage on the high ground.

And then Yuzuki could see the train. It was already battered, accelerating without control. The front of the train was nothing but a charred patch of blackness, revealing partially its interior, with no visible pilots being seen, so it was safe to conclude that something had happened to the pilot and that he was now lying on somewhere the little burnt hole couldn't show, probably unconscious, if not dead.

The increasing speed of the train, added with the lack of steering, resulted in its crashing into the platform right at Yuzuki's side. The other carriages of the train, not able to stop at once, all crumbled forward by the sudden stop of the first carriage and were flipped over, into the air, where the friction of the crash, along with the leaked fuel, created a small-scaled explosion that blew the carriages further apart in random directions.

One of those carriages, driven by the force of the explosion, was plugging right at where Jesmon and Yuzuki were standing on. Responding rapidly, Jesmon leaped forward, into the air, and kicked the incoming carriage, stopping it from hitting his partner.

Unfortunately, that left him quite a distance from Yuzuki, and just when he landed, the explosion caused by another carriage hit a pillar, smashing it into pieces of concretes, with some of them flying into the open sky, while the majority of them were jetting right at the black-haired girl. There was no stopping by now; Jesmon failed to notice it before it happened, and he was now too far away to prevent this.

"Mach Stinger V!" to everyone's surprise, the voice of TigerVespamon, as well as his blades, came, knocking down much of the concrete blocks that were about to hit Yuzuki while he personally took Yuzuki to somewhere safer, landing beside Jesmon.

"I didn't expect to see you this way." Another voice came, this time belonging to Amy. The older girl appeared from the smoke, with an illuminating figure walking next to her, revealing that the platform was now clean of any passengers but them. "Tell me you're not getting yourself in it voluntarily."

Yuzuki wanted to ask, but decided that she should deal with the train first. BlueMeramon, on Amy's order, fired two columns of ice-cold flames, freezing most of the metal parts while TigerVespamon smashed every single one of them with precision. Not sooner, the entire train had stopped, with a ruined platform and presumably all its passengers wounded, if not dead.

And it just so happened that there were survivors. "Get as much out as possible." Amy instructed her partner as BlueMeramon Digivolved into SkullMeramon. Even without using any of his flames and heat, the sheer muscular strength of the Mega was more than enough to tire the metal walls of the train apart and rescue whomever fortunate enough.

"You're gonna explain," uttered Yuzuki as the team set out to investigate whatever might have caused the train wreck before the police arrived and kept everything to themselves. "Why are you here?"

"To keep an eye on you, of course," replied the blonde causally, glancing at TigerVespamon. "Not my idea, though. I also have to wonder, pink?" seeing that the black-haired girl didn't quite understand her, she added, "Why did you think I had pink hair?"

Yuzuki now remembered the strange feeling when she saw the pink-haired teenager at the institute. "You were there?"

"Messing with your mind, made you think I was someone else, but why pink?"

"We can discuss your perception on colors later." Reminded Jesmon, pointing at the thick smoke that had been created duel to the train wreck, in which dusts of the station hovered randomly, blocking the light from the other side to come. For a moment it seemed that was only a common phenomenon that could be seen in almost every battlefield, but then the white-armored mega noticed something was wrong, very wrong. The dusts, as tiny as they were to follow, were moving in a pattern, rotating anti-clockwise towards a single point. The smoke was soon cleared, revealing a bizarre Digimon. It looked like a goat, with purple fur, and was standing upright, or rather, levitating midair. And it had wings.

"Mephistomon, Ultimate, virus type."

"So he crashed the train," uttered Amy. "Not very common, even back then when Digimon used to be more active."

"Something's wrong," observed Jesmon.

Mephistomon, hovering midair, approached the Digi-Destined laterally; the way he moved at just one direction, forward, was very creepy, as though he were floating on water, and the water that did the job were amazingly calm.

"Don't do anything yet," whispered Amy.

The peculiarity that Jesmon observed, however, wasn't the way the goat-like Digimon floated. Near him, where the sand and dust were clearing, one of the most unwanted event ever witnessed by the Digi-Destined occurred. There was the upright vortex, the dimensional gate, that appeared beside Mephistomon, and that's not even the worst. The technology previously used by Piedmon was supposed to be able to be reached only by human, and thus only the Human World should be able to open up any of these gates. This one, however, was clearly not one that needed be there right now, and the one walking out from within was even more astonishing then the gate itself.

"A human partner," muttered TigerVespamon in disbelief.

"Not the first time." Remarked Yuzuki.

A man, or rather, someone with similar size to the Digi-Destined, walked out of the gate. His features were covered by the long hood he was wearing, and his clothes inside seemed a bit worn out. The human walked with his back arched, and was coming straight at the Digi-Destined, walking, not rushing.

"Get ready," whispered Jesmon, positioning his blades, "I don't think they're here for a friendly reason."

Before the Destined could think further, however, the human took out something that was too terribly familiar. It was a Digivice, essentially the same type used by the Destined, not the ones that were manufactured artificially, and it was none other than the silver one that Kaoru had owned, or at the very least it looked like that one.

Without warning, the human took out a card, and swiped it vertically along the Digivice. Mephistomon was no longer there, replaced by a violent violet vortex that looked just like the dimensional gate. Seconds later a head, emerged from within, than an entire body, jerking as if the Digimon inside had to struggle to get out.

The "resultant", expected to be the Mega form of Mephistomon, was very much different from how he'd looked like before, with ox-like horns, four lower limbs and hands that looked like nothing more than three flaps of petals being put together. It was identified as Gulfmon.

Without a warning, the demonic Digimon charged, rushing straight at Jesmon. The white Mega readied for the strike, and charged forward as well. The two Mega met each other, with Gulfmon easily countering Jesmon's slashes with nothing but his bare hands, gripping the white-armored Mega's blades and tossing the Mega aside before charging at TigerVespamon and SkullMeramon.

TigerVespamon threw his swords while SkullMeramon tossed his red-hot chains at Gulfmon. Without bothering decelerating, dodged the projectiles swiftly, moving in a zigzagging pattern. Soon it reached TigerVespamon, and would've punched him away for miles had Jesmon not acted in time and jumped to the back of the beast-like body of Gulfmon, successfully distracting it. In the meantime, SkullMeramon, being further away from Gulfmon, tossed several fireballs at the Mega.

Gulfmon, however, handled that all at once. He started first by throwing Jesmon away in a swift motion, and then making a great leap, dodging all the bright, brick red fireballs.

In the meantime, the humans weren't free to do what they wanted as well. The human partner of Gulfmon charged forward as well, rushing straight at Yuzuki and Amy. Being the more alerted one, Amy sported that the human was holding a small knife in his hand –razor-sharp, and glimmering in the daylight –and noticed that he was coming after Yuzuki. Immediately the blonde pushed Yuzuki aside and grabbed the arm of the human, pulling him to her side, knowing that she could handle hand-in-hand combat better.

The human, nonetheless, wasn't easy to hold, either. Easily he shook off her grip, and turned his target on her, rushing despite that Amy managed to knock his knife off before he could get free. As he approached, the blonde readied herself, balancing herself from the motion of shaking him off. By the time she gained a better vision, he was already in front of her, punching her in the face.

Amy retaliated, kicking him off balance while endeavoring to keep her balance, eventually falling into a small hill of rubbles behind. The human seemed not interested in her, and gave a glare to her before he left for Yuzuki. In that brief moment, however, Amy believed that she actually saw his face, and was pretty certain that she just saw something impossible.

* * *

Gulfmon readily dodged a blast from SkullMeramon before slamming the Mega aside, sending him flying into an already cracked wall. The impact caused tones of ashes and bricks to fall off at once, half-burying SkullMeramon. In the meantime, TigerVespamon got back to his feet and charged at Gulfmon again, this time in a zigzagging pattern, aiming precisely at the demonic Mega before taking a leap with his swords ready to stab Gulfmon.

On the other hand, Jesmon had just gotten himself rid off the dizziness of being thrown away, and saw the human approaching Yuzuki. Determined to protect his partner, the white-armored Mega, though not willing to hurt a human, rushed towards the black-haired girl, only to be noticed by Gulfmon, and was easily lifted by the Mega with just single-handedly by gripping his feet, hauling him and slamming him into the incoming TigerVespamon.

The human charged straight at Yuzuki, who could do nothing more than running away to protect herself. She was too busy spending her focus on the battle, where Jesmon had just been beaten up like a Rookie, and getting as far away from the mysterious human partner of Gulfmon, that she failed to observe the grounds and was soon slipped-over by a rolling stone, falling straight to the ground.

It wasn't easy; she first examined her arms that she'd used to support herself. Bright red filled the random patches on her palms' scratches, and her jacket was a bit scratched too, though not broken. She turned around as soon as she oriented herself, and by that time the human had already reached her. All she could see was the elongated shape of the human from a low angle, kicking her to prevent her from getting up.

The human, having lost his knife, picked up a rather sharp-edged pebble and crouched forward; ready to smash the black-haired girl with it. Though too late, Yuzuki was determined that she wouldn't give up –not without a fight. The human pulled his stone-holding arm backwards, storing potential energy for the strike; Yuzuki seized the opportunity, waving her limbs aimlessly, hindering the human from focusing. The human, not prepared for the unpredictable moves, yanked back, but got his balance back soon enough and shot his arm straight at Yuzuki. Desperately, Yuzuki made a blind move, gripping the human's arm, yet she wasn't strong enough to keep the stone away from her for long. Her other hand was jerking at random directions, and she kicked the human without even knowing it, getting some distance between them.

The human fell behind, dropped the stone. Yuzuki quickly got back to her feet, and saw the human slowly emerging from a pond of dust with his hood falling behind, revealing a terribly familiar face.

For a moment, the black-haired girl was speechless, and then, once she could process the least bit of the reality happening in front of her, she muttered, "you're alive?"

The human, a kid at about the same age of Yuzuki with messed-up, long, blonde hair and a pair of sharp, blue eyes, stared at Yuzuki with a questioning look. Within a second, he got his strength back a charged at Yuzuki, who was too stunned to react. A moment later all five of his fingers were sticking tightly at Yuzuki's neck, pushing her against a wall while the ten fingers of the girl were holding tightly to his arm.

Gasping from air, the girl said painfully, "Wait…Kaoru…"

The kid gave her the same questioning look, asking while tightening his grip, "who?"

Yuzuki, too busy comprehending the joy and disbelief of Kaoru being alive and trying to kill her, as well as his strange facial expression and Digimon partner, as well as his seemingly unfamiliar with his name, got no chance to realize the roar "The King of Fist!" as the world started to get stuffy and blurry around her. A moment later, she found herself lying on the ground, with GrapLeomon standing in front of her and Katashi next to the ultimate saying, "glad we made it in time."

At the same moment, Kaoru got back beside Gulfmon, who'd stopped fighting the three Mega, backing off as a portal opened behind him.

"Consider this…a warning." Said the four-legged Mega in a monotone, emotionless and dead, yet different from those sounds generated from computers, "you wouldn't like where you need to go." Before the humans could react, he and Kaoru had already gotten back into the portal, vanishing in the thin air.


	3. A pair

-A pair-

"It was him…" mumbled Yuzuki, sitting in a gathering room with Amy and Katashi after the incident in the railway station. The other two hadn't said a word since then. Both three of them, as well as their Digimon partners, had had first-handed experiences of seeing Kaoru, who was supposed to have been dead for a year, in the battle. Very soon after Katashi arrived at the battle and Kaoru fled, the official force came by, and they were requested to get to that room.

"Can anyone explain just what happened?" a familiar voice came. The both Yuzuki and Katashi looked around, but couldn't see anyone. Amy, being calmer one, pointed at one of the many computer screens placed on the desk and said, waving at the screen, "Hi,"

Faces started to appear on the screen. One by one, all other three members of Yuzuki's team were there, both seemingly confused.

"I suppose we all got a visit from an old friend?" said Amy casually. That was when Smith walked into the room as well, with a face that told everyone some bad news was about to come, though most of them had encountered it themselves.

As expected, Smith said, "As you all must be aware, we have some serious problems here today, otherwise I wouldn't have called you all."

"If you're talking about Kaoru's coming back and attacking every district as far as I know, we don't need further introduction." Said Pteramon X. "Not sure if a meeting could help."

"Every district?" asked Katashi.

"Haven't you watched the news? Basically, everywhere is fine, except for Rn and Ne, where none of you happened to be there. And I assume all of us here have been beaten up by that Gulfmon." Said Takumi.

"He did say something about warning us." remarked Jesmon. "And I have to wonder, how did he open up a portal by himself?"

"That's not too much of his style, crashing a train as a warning," muttered Amy, earning her a hush from TigerVespamon.

The teens went on discussing the assaults at the districts, revealing that not much before Yuzuki was attacked, Kaoru had gone to Kr and Xe respectively, and to Ne, Rn and Ar not sooner after that, resulting in massive damages of infrastructures everywhere. There were casualties, but not serious ones. The only thing in common was that, Gulfmon could've finished off every single Digi-Destined, but instead he'd left before giving the fatal blow every time.

"That is one thing to concern," announced Smith, who had remained silent for most of the conversation, "but what I told you earlier was something entirely different."

"What?" that was the common reaction of most of the Destined.

"Remember the kid that went in from outside just yesterday?" said Smith, turning on a projector, showing a map-like picture, "our technicians analyzed it, and found this." Said him. A red dot appeared somewhere on the map. The move was not unexpected. The Digi-Destined gave Smith a questioning look, not because of their interest in the map, but rather, the lack of surprise from Smith's action. Seeing that, the man said, "this location, as shown on the map, is somewhere far away from here, the only place where human lived so far as we know."

"And that's…a treasure map? I thought it would be something more important." Commented Ryosuke.

"Maybe your friends can help you understand how important it is." Replied Smith. Yuzuki was the next one to speak.

"Just yesterday, a boy from outside Ventrium came with this. Apparently he was being chased, and is right now in a coma."

"So what do you suggest we do?" asked Amy, "to go to this place because someone came rushing in with it?"

"Even if you want to go, I won't let you," announced Smith. "As you all just experienced, there are potential threats everywhere in this nation –in the very districts you live. If all of you are out, and they come back again, who is to protect the cities?"

"Isn't that why you set up the Institute in the first place?" uttered Yuzuki sarcastically, "to prevent this from happening."

"They are not ready –not as you do."

"So what are we supposed to do?" asked Takumi, "stay here and wait for another attack? Then why show us the map?"

"I'm thinking," Smith began, "We should try to find another team."

"You had them, and you said they weren't ready." Muttered Yuzuki.

"This is something that requires preparations," said Smith coldly, "I bet there're more than six Digi-Destined in the world?"

"And then?"

"Find them."

"This is ridiculous," commented Yuzuki, frustrated. "You think Digi-Destined appear whenever you like?"

"Yes," answered Smith, "It seems to me a time when Digi-Destined would show up, like you all did last year. And…' he said, glancing at the black-haired girl. "Seeing that your own district already has two experienced Tamers, I'd like to have you lead them."

"Excuse me, but are you aware of how impractical your suggestion is?" exclaimed Takumi, "if you're just talking about getting together a team, fine. But to get Digi-Destined whenever you want? That's something you can only dream for."

The conversation didn't go on too well; there were arguments, as usual, and this time basically was again the situation where everybody else opposed to Smith's crazy ideas despite not having much authority to persuade him to do something else. Though everyone there knew they would have to choose between leaving their town undefended and getting to somewhere outside of the Walls, almost everyone chose the first. The reason was simple: the latter could be delayed.

* * *

"What took you so long?" Yuzuki asked Katashi as the two met near the waterfall outside the Temple. As much as she hated to admit, Smith had said something with a point: in times like this, there was likely Digi-Destined to be 'notified', and the only place she knew that could tell her much was the Temple. They weren't there in particular to try and force some Digi-Destined to emerge; it had been Jesmon's idea that they be there to ask for advises.

Katashi, on the other hand, was experiencing his first time in the Digital World. Though given privilege to enter the Digital World, he'd never done so, valuing his normal life above all others since the incident a year ago that had turned his best friend almost the most depressed person in the world. He looked at the giant waterfall; the water streaming down from somewhere he couldn't see, hitting the rocks at the base hard with white splashes that could travel so far as to almost twenty meters away from the fall. "Is there really a temple inside that waterfall?"

"Just get into it quickly," muttered Yuzuki. She never liked the idea of getting through a waterfall, though visiting this odd place actually helped her overcome her depression a little.

Once inside, things got brighter, almost even brighter than the sunlight outside with the weirdly shaped, glowing crystals embedded on the walls of the Temple. As far as she could tell, it was only the third time she was here, and she would really wish she wouldn't have to be here anymore –visiting the Temple mostly means troubles ahead.

"Is this some kind of cave?" mumbled Liollmon as the group walked across the corridors. Though not being here frequently, Yuzuki managed to remember the routes well enough she wouldn't get lost. Once they entered the larger chamber where every road converged, she started to look for Wizardmon, remembering that he was one of the nicer guys to get along with. Not to her surprise but to her disappointment, he couldn't be found.

"I don't think we should enter Withcmon's room without their permission," said Yuzuki. They were Digi-Destined (or at least, she was), but that didn't mean they could do whatever they wanted around here. Though she hadn't been here long enough the last time, she could remember very well that the Digimon here got their own system of work, and it'd be best if she could follow the system.

"Then, what do we do now? Wait?" uttered Katashi.

"I think they wouldn't mind if I show you 'that'," muttered Jesmon. He exchanged a look with Yuzuki, who nodded in return, confusing Katashi.

"Maybe while we wait, we can show you 'that'." Said Yuzuki.

"What are you two talking about?" asked Katashi. It was the first time that his not being an 'official' Digi-Destined had caused him trouble, "what's 'that'?"

"Just come with us." answered Yuzuki; somehow she was smiling.

* * *

Towards the bottom of the Temple, a hand pushed a stone door open.

"It's not that hard actually," said owner of the hand, sneaking inside the storage of the Digi-eggs. Another one followed him, not sure if he should stay behind to stand guard or follow the other inside to back him up.

"We're here, now what?" asked the second one that came into the storage. It was the first time the two of them entered the Temple, as well as the Digital World. Everything seemed so surprisingly natural about the Digital World that they didn't know at first how to react. But at least, they got into the Temple, without anyone's notice.

The first one took a step; he'd expected the stone floor to be rough, but rather, it was smooth, so smooth that he almost thought for a second that he was at a super high-class hotel, and lost focus for a while, slipping over. The second caught his hand just before his head hit the ground and pulled him back to balance exhaustedly.

"Thanks" said the first one. It was kind of dark around that he couldn't get a good glimpse of the floor, but now he knew how to take the steps, and walked as stealthily and quietly as he could. The second one followed.

"It seemed more…unusual in person than in the tales," commented the second one once his eyes got accustomed to the darkness. There they were in front of them, three hemispherical stone crafts in which one of them had six empty sockets. _That had to be the one that held the Digi-Destined_ _'_ _s eggs._ Thought him as he looked around. "What do we do now? Take a picture?"

"We've gone through all the way to here, and just take a picture?" argued the first one in a whisper, "come on! People won't just believe a photo!" as he said so he took noiseless steps ahead towards one of the two other untouched crafts, where all six sockets on each were still occupied by the intact Digi-eggs and oddly shaped stone crafts.

"How're we supposed to get away with that?" asked the second one, his voice filled with anxiety.

"The way we got in here," said the first one, "let's be quick, brother." Before he even finished that, he had already closed in onto one of the crafts, just inches away from it. With a deep breath he extended his hand forward, slowly approaching one of the Digi-Eggs.

"Something's not right," said the second one. He heard –or he thought he did –chatter noise, and that meant bad news to both of them. Though he couldn't make out the exact wordings, as well as the number of participants in the conversation, he needed to do something to warn his brother, who, at the moment, seemed too focused on the wrong source.

"We've got to go now!"

* * *

"Is it really okay that we just walk into that room?" asked Katashi. Despite his words, his legs were already on the move. Behind him was Liollmon, who seemed to have no trouble descending the stairs that roughly equaled half his body size.

"We went in the first time without permission as well, and Wizardmon never blamed us for that," explained Yuzuki. Though she wasn't supposed to talk about things that had happened in the past, in the Digital World, she could somehow go through the conversation without breaking down, at least not yet.

As they moved on, they soon arrived at the very bottom of the Temple, where lights were dim and the stone door of the room could hardly be seen. Katashi examined his surroundings with both excitement and caution. This kind of primitive, yet seemingly advanced stone cave gave him a kind of chill that he would have interpreted as the spirit of adventure a year ago. He now took that as a warning, a signal that he didn't know his surroundings, which alerted him.

Yuzuki, on the other hand, seemed perfectly comfortable walking around, probably because she was far more familiar with this place. She guided Katashi to the entrance.

"This is where they…" she started to talk, but was inconveniently and violently interrupted when a shadow streaked away from inside the door. She was hit for standing right in front of the door and was gripped by Jesmon just in time to prevent her from falling. All of them were confused, quickly scanning around, but was limited in terms of sight for the dim lighting.

"I'll go after that," said Katashi, looking back at Yuzuki for a second before he went off. "Com'on, Liollmon!"

"Wait!' yelled Yuzuki. She planned to follow Katashi, but was soon distracted by the faint sound that came from inside the room. She ran in, and listened carefully again. Nothing.

"Jesmon, can you hear anything?"

Before he could reply, however, that crack sound was there again, louder this time, causing a ghostly echo. Yuzuki could be certain that something was happening inside the storage, and rushed towards it, where the domes that held the Digi-eggs lay. _Please don_ _'_ _t tell me this is happening._

By the time she reached there, she could already tell herself that one of the most coincidental thing had just happened in front of her. First, there was an intruder, who, somehow, slipped past the security of the Temple and entered the storage. Next, that intruder was a human, and not only that, he was probably a Digi-Destined as well.

And on top of that, he just made two Digi-eggs hatch.

* * *

Katashi, though unfamiliar with the corridors and stairs of the Temple, chased the intruder nonetheless, hoping that he, too, wasn't all that familiar with the structure of the Temple and had yet to figure out an escape route.

"Hey! Stop right there!" yelled Liollmon, being the more agile one, and thus closer to the intruder. The intruder –apparently a human unless he was some kind of humanoid Digimon –didn't seem to be a good runner, at least not in this kind of rugged landscape, where he needed to watch his steps wherever he went. He didn't look back, just kept on running, keeping a bare, yet constant distance away from Liollmon, who'd tried for multiple times to catch him and failed.

Katashi, catching his breath, reached up a little farther and could grab a glimpse of the intruder's outfit. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt with the hood on, and a pair of dark navy blue wind pants that had a white strip on either side. Just when Katashi thought he could get the intruder, the intruder turned into a corner, disappearing from both the brown-haired boy and Liollmon's sight.

Despite that, they continued the chase, that's when Liollmon noticed something peculiar.

"What's that?" uttered the Rookie, catching his breath and running while pointing at a staircase opposite to where they were standing with his head. On that staircase was a human boy, with pointy white hair. He was running towards the same direction as direction as the intruder had done.

"How'd he get there?" mumbled Katashi in disbelief, convinced that he was the intruder. Yet, something disputed his theory as he observed the white-haired boy's clothing. A moment ago, he was sure that the intruder had been wearing a gray sweatshirt and a pair of long pants. Yet this one was wearing what appeared to be a short-sleeved t-shirt, diagonally divided into two with black on his right and gray on his left, over a white, long-sleeved t-shirt, and was wearing a pair of short, navy-blue pants. They had to be different people, unless the intruder could change in such an instant and get to the other side of the Temple.

"What's happening here?" though confused, Katashi quickly gathered his thoughts and instructed Liollmon to go with him to the only entrance he knew existed. Hopefully they would get there in time before the intruders fled.

* * *

The intruder in gray shirt looked at his back after he'd run for a few minutes and felt like he wasn't being followed anymore. He gasped for breath and scanned his surroundings. Nothing. He wanted to get out as fast as possible, yet he also wanted to make sure that he wasn't the only one to get out. He took out his cell phone, and called the other.

"How's your side, Rikuto?"

"I think he haven't found me yet, Kaito."

"Well then, follow the plan and meet up at the entrance," with that, Kaito turned the phone off, and resumed his escape. He knew that he had to be quick, whoever wanted him captured would definitely head for the only exit, and he had to be there before anyone else, otherwise the whole trip of sneaking into the Digital World would be pointless.

Though he'd never been there before, he had at least the experience of getting down to the very bottom of the Temple, and using that memory, he managed to find himself a few routes that led him directly towards the exit. He wasn't sure if his pursers would choose the same path as he did, but he went for the shortest one nonetheless, keeping a cautious eye on his back and all corners he was about to face while running as fast as he could, which wasn't really fast.

To his surprise, he didn't encounter any obstacles on his way to the entrance, not even Digimon guards that he'd expected and had thus been extra cautious to avoid. By the time he reached the main path that led to the exit, he could see his brother, Rikuto, on the other way, also alone, without any apparent pursers.

"This is odd," commented Rikuto as they reunited.

"We're lucky," replied Kaito. The two turned to the entrance, where the water film formed by the waterfall seemed to be their final challenge. They stood side by side, with Kaito saying, "ready? Three, two, one!"

Before he even finished the 'one', his legs were already on the move, carrying him straight towards the water film, as the corridor around him became a blur. Rikuto seemed to be a bit faster, and was in his vision.

But then suddenly, Kaito saw more than one figure in front of him. He knew what that was –blue hat, pale brown cloth and a staff. It had to be a Wizardmon. And that meant they had failed to escape unnoticed. Nevertheless, he kept charging forward, until Rikuto stopped by the Champion. Not able to decelerate in time, Kaito crushed into Rikuto, while Wizardmon simply took a step aside and watched as both of them plugged into the pool of water.

And then, behind Wizardmon, another two figures came rushing forward.

"Are we too late?" mumbled Liollmon, while Katashi was too occupied by his gasping for air, so he couldn't reply.

Wizardmon didn't look hostile. Maybe Yuzuki had informed him who Katashi was. He approached the brown-haired boy, speechless, and passed right by him, before Jesmon showed up behind Katashi. Though he never showed it facially, he was worried.

"Something happened down there," said the Mega, turning to Wizardmon. "Where are the intruders?"

"They fell into the pool," replied Wizardmon. "They can't escape."

"Wait, am I supposed to know something?" asked Katashi, still catching for breath.

"The intruders," Jesmon began to explain, "They were not just intruders. They are Digi-Destined, and two Digi-eggs just hatched down there."

"What?" uttered Katashi in surprise. Though he was almost as exhausted as the last time he had been chased by a pack of Chaosdramon X, he couldn't just leave the intruders in the water, seeing that nobody had surfaced yet. Before he considered his options, he found himself already in the water, his eyes blurry, hindered by the refraction. Faintly, he could see two humans, just as he expected, and he started to swim towards the closest one and grabbed him by his arm.

* * *

 _He shouldn_ _'_ _t be there._

 _Rikuto saw_ _something_ _familiar, way too familiar that he remembered there was somewhere he_ _'_ _d been before, and that somewhere was a place where he had sworn never to return to. He just hope that this time,_ _nothing_ _bad would happen._

 _Yet it didn_ _'_ _t turn out that way. He pinched his left fingers against his right arm, a strange_ _habit_ _of his, and found that his arm was way too small. Then he looked around, and saw his older twin brother, Kaito, younger than himself. He then realized that he wasn_ _'_ _t being older than his brother_ _–_ _he was in a dream. The silly scout uniform on Kaito reminded him that._

 _Then it was that day. He thought. Even though he knew he was in a dream, he couldn_ _'_ _t seem to find any way to escape it. He counted in seconds, knowing exactly what would happen next._

" _Rikuto!_ _"_ _the scout leader, a grumpy middle-aged man with squared jaws and beady eyes, yelled at Rikuto. Though he_ _'_ _d experienced this situation for a thousand times, it was still impossible for him to command his body to move at will, and he once again fell behind as the other children in the squad started the marching._

" _I thought I_ _'_ _d made it clear that, you fail to act one more time, you_ _'_ _ll be punished!_ _"_ _said the leader, a leather belt in hand as he narrowed his eyes and approached the younger Rikuto. The others watched in terror, too stunned to move. A glare from the leader sent them into marching again._

" _Please! I_ _…_ _I_ _'_ _ll do better next time!_ _"_ _though_ _the_ _words were his, he couldn_ _'_ _t help letting them escape his lips._

" _Every time you say next time!_ _"_ _yelled the leader, somewhat resembling a lion_ _'_ _s roar. He raised his belt-holding arm high, and stared at Rikuto so_ _fierce_ _ly that he was_ _frozen_ _, not even blinking as tears dripped out of his eyes._

 _He knew he had to move, he knew what would happen next. He_ _'_ _d seen it a thousand times, and he_ _'_ _d failed to_ _change_ _it for a_ _thousand_ _times._

" _No!_ _"_ _a familiar voice_ _came;_ _next to it was the violent whip of the belt. He didn_ _'_ _t see what caused those, for he_ _'_ _d covered his eyes_ _beforehand_ _. When he opened them, all he could see was Kaito in front of him, his body_ _as steady as a rock, his right hand bleeding._

The next thing he saw was a stone ceiling, with strange crystals that glowed a weird green light embedded on it, and the face of his brother, in his proper fourteen-year-old state.

"Where am I?" he asked, or mumbled, as he got up. He found himself on something like a bed, with some others scattered along the large room. Then he noticed all his clothes, and his hair, too, was soaked, and felt his wet hair touching his face. So was Kaito.

"I think, we failed," said Kaito. He'd waken up before Rikuto, and so he had done some more scouting, during which he noticed a few things: first, the door was locked. Second, they were the only two in the room. Third, the room appeared to have been built for human usage, and lastly, he noticed a few blankets. He'd thought of taking his clothes off to let them dry, but it just didn't feel right to do so while he could hardly understand where he was.

And then the door was opened gently, and in came a boy around their age, with short, messy brown hair and a lion cub like Digimon following him.

"Oh! You're awake," said the boy as he came into the room. "For god's sake get some clothes to change, can you?" said him as he handed them a bag. "By the way, my name's Katashi Tadokoro. You can just call me by my first name. And this is Liollmon."

"Hi," said the Rookie lightly.

"What are you planning to do with us?" demanded Kaito, almost as if he was the one to do an interrogation.

"Well, there's something you have to know," said Katashi, his face turning serious while still retaining a friendly smile. "The fact is, you two seem to be Digi-Destined, and when you entered the storage down there, two Digi-eggs reacted with your presences and hatched."

"What?" uttered both of them.

"And I think I should give you time to be with them alone. They're practically newborn babies, after all." Said Katashi as he opened the door wider. Behind him was two seahorse-like Digimon, one green and one blue. They raced towards the two white-haired kids with excitement written obviously in their glassy eyes.

Katashi then handed two Digivices to them as well. "Take them. I don't know which belongs to who, though."

"Babydmon, fresh" the two Digivices scanned the data of the Babydmon simultaneously.

"I think I should leave you alone for a while, but really, get changed, or you might catch a cold." Said Katashi as he turned to leave. "And, by the way, are you two…"

"Twins?" Rikuto finished the sentence for him, "yes. And we'd rather not be asked again."

"And," said muttered Kaito, giving the bag of clothes back to Katashi, "I'd rather strip naked than to get your help," said him as he started to take his sweatshirt off.

"Well in that case, I won't bother you," said Katashi a bit stunned, "but if you need anything, just call me."

Nobody replied, so he simply walked out and closed the door as quietly as he could. He didn't want to scare the Babydmon. They were, as their names suggested, babies, after all.

* * *

Katashi reunited with Yuzuki not soon after. Along with them were Wizardmon, Sorcermon and FlaWizarmon, all of which seemed serious.

"I just went to the twins," reported Katashi. That, however, didn't seem to be the issue that bothered the Wizards. "What's it?"

"I don't know it either," said Yuzuki. She glanced at Jesmon, who didn't seem to know anything as well.

Katashi looked around, then to the three Digimon, one by one. Though they were only Champion, they somehow seemed more than meet the eyes, and had a strange, terrifying presence surrounding them.

FlaWizarmon was the first one to speak; his voice steady, yet it sounded filled with shock. "It is improper for this to happen."

"For what?" asked Liollmon. None of the Wizards gad any specific body language.

"The Digi-Destined, they shouldn't be here this soon," said Sorcermon finally after a few minutes of silence.

"Too soon?" uttered both Yuzuki and Katashi in astonishment, "what do you mean by 'too soon'? They weren't supposed to be there?"

"It cannot be told," said Wizardmon, "but, there was no indications that new Digi-Destined would be born," Wizardmon paused for a while, shifting into a lighter tone and said, his expression serious, "It seems, Destined, that your destiny is not yet fulfilled, and had been taken over by someone else."

* * *

Kaito wrapped a blanket around himself, sat on a bed, resting his chin on his knees and wrapping his arms around them. He stared at the two Babydmon, who didn't seem to have gotten oriented to their surroundings yet and was scanning around curiously. On the bed opposite to him was Rikuto, also undressed and covering himself with a dry blanket. Their clothes were placed on yet another bed, waiting to be dehydrated.

The blue Babydmon looked up, and for a moment, met his eyes with Kaito's. Immediately, the sea horse-like Digimon jumped up, and rushed forward to Kaito clumsily, ending up sticking to his chest.

"Hey," whispered Kaito, staring down at the Babydmon. The tiny Digimon rested his head against the bare chest of Kaito, and had his eyes closed, seemingly sleeping. It itched Kaito's already cold body, and though the Babydmon appeared cute, a weird thought occurred to Kaito, and he said quietly, "I can't feed you."

"I don't he means that, Kai," said Rikuto. He was, too, busy dealing with a Babydmon. The green Babydmon was hugged between his palms, and was smiling. "I think he just wants warmth."

"Is it?" asked Kaito. He found himself dumb doing so; the Babydmon was a baby, and could hardly understand what he just said, not to mention to give a verbal response. Nevertheless, the Babydmon nodded quickly, smiling. A moment later, Kaito had to reconsider his understanding toward babies, for the Babydmon started to speak, saying, "Hi!"

"You can talk already?" mumbled the white-hiared boy mechanically, too stunned. The blue Babydmon nodded, and said, "I am Babydmon." He continued to ask, "What's your name?"

"My name is Kaito Fujimoto," he smiled at the Babydmon, "or you can just call me Kai; only a few privileged ones got to do that."

"And I'm Rikuto Fujimoto, or Riku for short," said Rikuto. The green Babydmon looked up, and said, "I'm Babydmon."

"Yes, we know that," said Rikuto as softly as possible, he looked at the green one, and asked, "are you two…?"

"Twins?" replied the blue one. Rapidly both Babydmon nodded, and looked at each other. Understanding their needs, Rikuto rose up carefully, and moved next to his older brother. The two Babydmon then got off the humans, and closed in together.

"So, we're supposed to take care of them now?" asked Rikuto in a whisper.

"Most likely," replied Kaito, "I never expected things to turn out this way. How do you think mom will react to this, though?"

"No idea," said Rikuto, "Speaking of which, what's the time now?"

"I totally forgot that!" uttered Kaito, he then turned his volume down, afraid to scare the Babydmon. "Let's see: we got here at about six-thirty, and then…" he quickly turned to the Babydmon, and asked, "hey, can you two somehow dry the clothes for us?"

"No problem!" replied the two Digimon. They turned to the clothes, breathed in, and then out, along with a light shout, "Hot steam!"

"Thanks!" said Kaito, quickly dressing up. He never brought with him a watch, so he didn't know the exact time, only that they had probably spent too much time here. "We've got to go now." He turned to Rikuto, who'd just finished dressing, his hair still wet, and then to the two Babydmon. "By the way, I'm thinking of giving you guys nicknames, for identification."

"Really?" shouted the blue Babydmon, sounding excited.

"What will I be called?" said the green one, pumping with a naïve smile.

"Maybe we should make it quick and simple," said Rikuto as he got the green Babydmon and held him by his arms. He looked at the blue one and said, "Just call you Blue," he looked down to the green one, "and you Green."

"Really?" muttered Kaito, apparently annoyed. The Digimon seemed fine with the decision, though.

"I don't think we have any way to get out of here unnoticed," said Kaito before he left the room, "any idea where to look for that Katashi Tadokoro?"

* * *

 **Time to do some updates. Below are links to concept pictures of some characters, dowan by...me, of course. Don't expect much quality there.**

 **For those of you who find the links weird, just remember to get rid of the spacings and add the "h something something p" in the front.**

 **Katashi:** **yo11110. deviantart art /Katashi-569205547?ga_ submit_ new= 10%253A1446219586**

 **Kaito:** **yo11110. deviantart art/ Kaito- 569206239? ga_ submit_ new=10%253A1446219879**

 **Rikuto:** **yo11110. deviantart art/ Rikuto- 569206628?ga_ submit_ new=10%253A1446220038**

 **This is what I'd say for the Babydmon colors: I don't care what the offficial setting is.**

 **And, one last thing: I've abandoned the episode-like structure I used last time in favor of a more consective story, which means there might not be Digimon battles in every chapter. But I feel like this is the best way the story can be presented.**

 **With all that said, I'll always, of course, encourage you to follow and leave reviews for the story.**


	4. An accident

-An Accident-

2 hours ago…

Yuzuki had just suggested the idea of going to the Digital World, to see if there would be any possible leads from the Temple. It happened immediately after the meeting, in which Smith had directly asked, or ordered, Yuzuki to lead another team of Tamers to go to the destination shown in the device carried by the human boy from outside. It appeared odd, at least to Katashi, not because of the harsh demand of Smith –he'd always been like that –but because of how Yuzuki responded to it.

In the day before, she'd just experienced an emotional breakdown due to someone mentioning something related to her past experience of being a Digi-Destined, and earlier this morning, she'd just been attacked by Kaoru, who had apparently forgotten who she was and was trying to have her terminated.

However, her response was just questioning Smith's decision, which was purely odd. Katashi had expected her to be more reactive, but it was the others that started the argument, during which shed said nothing.

"You can just wait for me in the Digital World," said Katashi, after having decided to join Yuzuki to the Digital World. "I've got something to do here; it won't take long."

"Well then, don't get lost," said the black-haired girl, before stepping into the artificial portal and disappearing in the bright light of it.

Immediately after that, Katashi ran to Smith's office. He had no reservation, which caused him into a series of trouble trying to talk the secretary to let him see the man that now led the majority of official Digimon business. He managed to do that, and the first thing he said after only half of his foot had stepped into the brightly lit office was "Mr. Smith, I wish to replace Yuzuki as the leader of your proposing team."

Smith, sitting by his desk motionlessly, eyed the brown-haired boy. He had the same physical properties as he ever had, but his expression made him into someone else, someone determined, and would do whatever it took to get his demand fulfilled. His bright red eyes narrow with resolution, his lips enclosed, one lip pushing against another, forming a perfect straight line.

"May I ask, how did you expect me to answer to your request?" asked Smith, his expression blank and his voice steady.

"I'm not requesting." Answered Katashi, firmly and, a bit threateningly, "You will let me take over."

"Or?"

"Or you'll lose all your credibility," said the brown-haired boy, "You've seen it; people have seen it. We all know that Yuzuki broke down yesterday!" his volume slowly rose up into shouting, "Just think of what people will say about you if you insist on letting her take charge!" his eyes were flashing with the reflection of Smith sitting by his desk and showing no sign of giving in, but his mind was filled with something else. Right now, all he could see was the conversation he'd had with Yuzuki last night, and the by-product of his imagination of the girl having nightmares as well as sobbing while refusing to get help. He knew he had to do something for her.

"I see," said Smith, "Are you sure you have no personal reasons for doing so?"

"Of course," answered Katashi, "why the question?"

"Just wanted to make sure," said Smith, rising from his chair and approaching the brown-haired boy, putting one palm on his shoulder as he walked past Katahsi. "that you can handle the position cool-headedly."

* * *

Present time…

"It's a bit late," said Katashi to Yuzuki, "you should be back by now. Wouldn't want you to miss another train, especially since one of the platforms was destroyed."

"What about the two?" replied Yuzuki. "I'm not supposed to leave this soon."

"It's not soon," said Katashi, "I don't want you to get into trouble again. Besides, I talked Smith out of having you to be a Digi-Destined again."

"Was that why you were late?"

"Don't mind that," said Katashi, "Just leave."

"Alright," answered Yuzuki. It seemed like a causal reply even to her, and somehow that bothered her. She'd just been informed that her duty as a Digi-Destined, as a kind of chosen one, was yet to be finished, yet she'd just let someone else –someone that was totally unrelated –take her part without much consideration. She took a look at Katash before she left, thinking about what would've happened if he hadn't run into her the day they met again, and hadn't partnered himself with Liollmon since then. Perhaps in that case, things would've turned out differently, and they wouldn't have had to be part of it. But right now, she just walked away.

As the shape of the girl and Jesmon disappeared, Katashi was relieved. He'd seen how the work as Digi-Destined completely ruined his friend, and right now, all his concern was to prevent that from happening again. He decided that he would take the place as the lead of the new team Smith had proposed, so he could handle whatever might happen to whoever might be recruited. He walked towards the door, deciding to visit the twins again, knowing that Smith must be intending to put them into the team. He'd to know if they could handle it.

Before he did anything, however, the door was swung open, and in came the very people he was thinking about.

"Hi!" said the brown-haired boy immediately, smiling and waving at them.

The twins entered the room without saying anything, giving a hostile look. Their Digimon partners following suit behind, hanging bright smile on their faces as a contrast. "You can quit that 'friendly neighborhood' face," said Kaito to Katashi coldly, "I know what you're thinking."

"Really?" uttered Katashi, seemingly surprised. However, he was still acting as friendly as he'd been so far, "So you knew I am going to ask you how did you get here?"

"What?" uttered both Kaito and Rikuto.

"Why do you seemed surprised?" muttered Liollmon. He was more focused on the two newborn Digimon that were currently belonging to the twins. He doubted if they had the ability to take care of the Digimon. "What else would you want to be asked?"

"I thought," Rikuto started, but soon decided not to say too much, "never mind."

Kaito turned his head and looked at the two Babydmon, who seemed eager to participate in the conversation. He gestured at them, implying to them not to make any moves before they said so. As he'd expected, they obeyed. He then switched his focus onto Katashi and started to speak. Before he could, however, the brown-haired boy spoke first, saying, "Let me guess, you sneaked into the Digital World while I travel through?"

"That's obvious," commented Rikuto, avoiding direct eye contact with Katashi.

Liollmon looked up. He decided he wasn't as nice as his partner, and had to speak up his own voice, "Can't you two be a bit nicer? It was Katashi that rescued you when Wizardmon made you sleep and you sank into that pool!"

"We never asked for it!" shouted Kaito. He looked back at the Babydmon, who seemed a bit frightened. "Sorry," mumbled him in a whisper.

"Everyone just calm down," said Katashi. Silence followed next. It took a few minutes before everyone seemed to have regained the mood to take. Again, it was Katashi that opened up the conversation.

"I just wondered, how did you plan to get back? I mean, how did you know if we'd go back to the Human World?"

None of them answered.

"You didn't, did you?" uttered Katashi. Kaito gave him a disgusted look, staring at him and biting his lower lip while Rikuto just kept on staring at the sides of the room and asked, "Are you gonna let us go away or what?"

Liollmon looked up, frustrated. He wanted to say something like "be polite!" but was interrupted by his partner before he could even make a sound. Katashi said, "Of course I won't just let you go away. You'll have to come with me if you want to get back, and then, you can go away to wherever you want." As he said so, he started to walk out of the room, gesturing for the twins to follow him.

They hesitated for a while, but eventually agreed to follow Katashi for now, with Kaito asking, "You're not going to ask us why we were here?"

"Why should I?" replied Katashi casually, not even bothering to turn back, "I'm sure you've your reasons."

* * *

By the time they reached back the Human World, right at the former training center for the patrol team and now the site of the Digimon Institute, where the only dimensional transport in the Human World was placed, the sky had already turned dark. The first face the twins faced, however, was an unfamiliarly menacing, slightly wrinkled, and undoubtedly angered face.

"Mr. Smith," uttered Katashi, not sounding too delighted to see the man. "What brings you here?"

"It should be me asking," said the black-haired man, eyes fixed on the twins, who gave him a hostile, hated expression, "What brought them here?"

Katashi's stopped for a moment, his mind running with full efficient. He eyed back at the twins and whispered, "Don't say anything," before he focused on Smith and started to pretend to be casual and said, "It's just an accident."

"Really?"

"Of course," Katashi answered. He turned over to see the portal closed, and then continued, "How could any outsiders get to the Digital World if not by accident?"

"Maybe I should just ask them to explain themselves," said Smith, his voice cold and sharp. Katashi gave a glanced at the twins, hinting them to stick to his story, worried at the same time that they wouldn't cooperate –they seemed to be that kind of rebellious teenagers.

Smith approached the twins, glanced at the Babydmon that weren't tall enough and seemed not anxious at all, and spoke up, "What would be your version of the story?"

Katashi kept his sight on the man, who seemed meaner every moment with his footsteps closing in the white-haired kids and, whom Katashi imagined was pulling a smirk –the kind that deforms a human face –inside his cold, calculative and emotionless face. Right now, he could only wish that the twins, wose manes he hadn't even gotten, would play along.

Unfortunately, they didn't.

The one wearing a gray sweatshirt who, under clearer lighting, was seen wearing a pair of grotesque, black gloves that revealed only his thumb, index finger and middle finger on either palm, was the first to speak after the two of them exchanged a look. "We sneaked in right after he did," said him, staring at Katashi.

Before Smith could say anything, the other one spoke, "and we entered that cave people call the Temple, and then we went to the bottom of that cave, in hopes of getting stealing whatever was there."

Smith listened carefully, his face still expressionless. He viewed the Babydmon, and then back to their partners, "For what?"

"It's not up to you to care about our own stuff," muttered Kaito.

"Well, either I care about it or not, it seems to me that 'your own stuff' got quite some surprising results even to yourselves." Smith glared at the Babydmon again. The two babies, however, didn't seem to sense any hostility from the man's sharp eyes, and said innocently, "Hello!"

"I'd say, truly, that I never expected to see this kind of situation happening on kids like you," commented Smith, each word being spoken slowly and accurately, "How old are you two? Eleven?"

"Don't say it like we're some kind of irresponsible jerk," snapped Rikuto, glaring back at Smith, "by the way, we're fourteen."

"And, speaking of which, the time's rather late now," interrupted Katashi. He could sense tension easily between the twins and Smith, like a time bomb, ready to explode at any given moments, and though he considered that inevitable, he hoped to give the best impression of the twins to Smith, knowing that he would never let two Digi-Destined escape his palm. If they really were to work together someday later, it'd be best if they didn't already hate each other.

Liollmon, who hadn't liked the twins too much, also spoke, "Can't we just make this quick?"

Smith, finding himself no choice, pronounced, "Alright. But I'll need a full report on this," With that, he left.

Katashi then turned to the twins, who didn't care much about saying thanks, and said lightly, "Maybe I can take you to home. And, by the way, you haven't told me your names."

"We know exactly the way to get home," replied Kaito bitterly, "if it comforts you, it'll take about four hours for us to get there, which, to save you calculation time, means we'll be back at the southern area at about two. And, my name's Kaito Fujimoto."

"Rikuto," said the other, "And, though I suppose none of us would take you friendlily, I wouldn't suggest you refer to us by our last name." With that said, they started to depart, only to be stopped by Katashi, who said kindly, "That might be a bit dangerous for you to be out so late at night. Mind spending a night at my home? That's quite close to here."

"No." replied the twins immediately and simultaneously. Kaito turned around and uttered, "Come on, time to go."

There was, however, no replied. The reason was obvious –the two Babydmon were already fast asleep. As he saw that, Kaito gently crouched down and carried Blue with both arms. Rikuto, who did the same, gazed at Katash with a face of unwillingness, "Well, maybe we will, for once."

* * *

morning came Katashi already found his two "guests" gone, not even leaving a note behind. _Not unexpected._

Seeing that it was still in the early, he took no attempt to do anything so soon. Summer holiday had just come, and therefore he had no worries about balancing his life between his school life and being a Tamer, especially since it was almost a hundred percent certain that a great big trouble was coming up. As he did the routine wash up and had breakfast, he checked his phone record mechanically, not really looking forward to receiving any mail in particular.

There was, however, one message that caught his attention. _S_ _hould_ _n'_ _t be surprised_. It was Smith, reminding him to give a full report of the "accident" he had made up. Unauthorized travel between the Human World and the Digital World was illegal, and that's exactly what the twins had done. Worse, they had completely no intention to cover it up. It was up to the brown-haired boy, now bearing the position of recruiting a new team, to get them out of the trouble. After all, they're Digi-Destined, a hundred percent chosen by fate rather than random encounters like Katashi had, and therefore could be treated as a precious resource.

Just by looking at the title, Katashi could already deduce Smith's intention. The man, once his school's principal, had been shown to be more aggressive and creative in his own way. A man like this would certainly not let Digi-Destined –not one, but two –get away from his grip. It seemed to Katashi that it was inevitable for him to meet the twins again, though he was quite sure he wasn't particularly welcome.

"Morning, Katashi!" his mother's voice came from behind, along with the clear knocks of footsteps descending the staircase. "Where're your friends?"

"They're…gone," replied Katashi after a second of hesitation. _And_ _I_ _don_ _'_ _t think they_ _'_ _ll consider me a friend._ He looked back to his room; Liollmon was still asleep. He then checked the clock –seven in the morning. He quickly walked towards the door and said, "I'll be out for today," before he rushed off immediately, without waiting his mom's reply or waking his partner Digimon to go with him.

* * *

It took approximately four hours to get from Katashi's house to their home, as Kaito'd mentioned.

One benefit of waking up early at six in the morning was that there wouldn't be any competition at all. Basically, excluding the driver, the only living beings in the bus were Kaito, Rikuto, and the two Babydmon. That was, of course, until an hour or two later, when every businessmen and women get into the traffic and get to work.

"Where are we going, Kai?" asked Blue, viewing ebulliently at the views outside the windows, which were mostly just blurs of gray and silver –the main color of the buildings in the business area of Vertiro. Kaito, however, could understand the enthusiasm, remembering he'd spoken almost the exact same line when he was way younger.

"Home," the gray-haired boy replied. Sitting directly opposite to him, and packed in the car were all sort of suited men and women, who gave him some chills "parenting" Blue. Still, he was used to ignoring the society.

Another funny fact was that, somehow the Babydmon had divided themselves to the twins, with Blue being particularly close to Kaito and Green almost unwilling to leave Rikuto for even a foot.

"What are we supposed to say to mom, Kai?" asked the younger of the twins. Sitting between his arms was Green. Unlike his brother, Green appeared to have more of an interest in sleeping and sitting rather than jumping around and getting to know the world.

"What's a mom?" asked Green, looking up at Rikuto with his big, watery eyes opened wide.

"That's," Rikuto started to talk, but was somehow stuck at getting an exact definition for the word. It sounded so natural when he said it all the time, that it kind of troubled him when he had to professionally teach this concept to someone, someone who didn't have a mother.

"That's a bit complicated," Kaito carried on the answer, "basically that's someone who gives birth and takes care to her children."

"Like you?" asked Blue.

"No." replied Rikuto, "someone way better than us."

Not far away, on the road opposite to the one the bus was on, and not visible to the children, a car drove zigzagging across the road, accelerating. The bus driver could tell in a glance that the driver of that car was drunk, and therefore didn't even bother warning him before he urgently stopped the bus. Despite that the drunk driver was not slowing down, and within seconds the front of the silver sports car was already embraced by the fractured, cracked, and bent front section of the bus, the impact shocking all the passengers as the two vehicles stopped in the middle of a crossroad.

The other vehicles, not prepared for a sudden brake, all drifted in different directions, one of which failed to respond in time and crashed into the side of the bus as well, causing the bus to take a ninety-degree turn.

"What's happening?" asked Green, apparently panicked. It wasn't an unusual act, though, considering that seventy-percent of the bus was doing the same.

"Car crash?" uttered Rikuto, in a somehow disappointed tone, "now?"

"At least nobody's hurt." Muttered Kaito. But his comment was made too soon. Unknown to any of them was what's happening outside, on the road. The stopped bus was an easy target because it was lying right in the middle of a cross section. A tanker truck -the kind that only appeared in Vertiro every once in a few months, failed to react to the accident, which was perfectly understandable, and crashed into a sidewalk as the driver endeavored desperately to avoid hitting the bus.

A long bang, then a collection of clicking sounds, debris against metal.  
The twins saw it the moment it happened. The front of the truck was buried deep inside a building, slum over models suggesting that it was a small boutique. Fortunately it shouldn't be open that early in the morning.

"What happened?" Blue asked.

"I don't know for sure." Rikuto answered honestly while trying not to sound bad. "But I think we may be in danger."

His eyes followed the river of the high viscosity liquid that bad traveled along the pavement and were about to reach the bus. It didn't take a genius to know what's going to happen once it's slithered its way to the exhaust pipe.

"We have to get out of here!" Said Kaito, before the rest of the crowd noticed what they'd seen and started to freak out. Yells filling the air as the liquid conquered the pavement inches by inches.

"Can you do something?" Kaito demanded the Babydmon. "Anything, that can get us out of the bus?"

The Babydmon looked troubled -there was no reason they shouldn't. Even Kaito knew he was demanding too much on the fresh Digimon. But he -they -needed their strength, however tiny it was.

Before the next word came, another bang filled the air, then a cloud of orange, gushing towards the bus like a predating wolf.

* * *

When he could make sense of things again, the first thought was not that he wasn't dead yet.

"Riku!" Kaito shouted, searching the outlines in the orange world for his brother. However slight the chance was, he needed him to be all right.

But instead he could only see the silhouettes of two large dragon-like creatures, their wings spread wide, and their shape black against the orange.

And then they turned around, and he shouted.

"Riku!" Shouted Kaito, almost crying as he rushed towards the shape in the arms of one of the two dragons. He could see only a silhouette, but it was definitely Rikuto, he doubted not. Rikuto seemed unconscious, being held from the flames. In the flashing flare Kaito could see a streak of green coming from the scales of one of the dragons.

"Are you..." He started, but lost his focus as Rikuto stirred and woke.

The dragon simply nodded.

He the turned to the other. "And you're Blue?"

The other dragon nodded as well.


	5. An unfairness

-An unfairness-

Before Kaito could notice, his Digivice beeped.

"Coredramon, Champion, Vaccine type."

"What happened?" Rikuto asked dumbly, rubbing his eyes as though the bright orange inferno surrounding them was absent.

The blue Coredramon, Blue, spoke, "I was thinking of saving you, really hard, and then things happened and I am like this."

Green nodded in agreement.

"Right!" uttered Kaito and Rikuto simultaneously. "The others. What about all others in the bus?"

None of the Coredramon could answer.

Kaito looked around frantically; sweat running down the sides of his face. "Do something! We can't just stay here and let others die!"

The two Coredramon still had little to no idea as to what to do. They stared at each other for a few seconds, nodded in agreement, and turned back to back, facing the ring of fire. The flames roared, making the humans feel like as though something was wandering in their auditory canals and hindered their hearing, but the dragons' roar were superior, deafening their partners.

The flames spread outwards with the strong vibrations of the dragons' roars, but weren't put out. The flames were still there, but not as prominent, and not as eye-catching. All that's left now were flickers of yellow and red dancing around the twins.

The Coredramon weren't stopping there, however. In one strong motion they spread their giant wings wide so that they covered almost the entire circumference of the ring of fire, and swung them forwards. Cool air came by along with irresistible currents that almost dragged Kaito and Rikuto towards the flame had they not hold tight to one another's arm and standing in opposite positions such that the dragging force canceled out each other.

It was painful, and Kaito could feel his arm almost ripped off in the process, in a split second. He didn't know for sure, but guessed that his brother probably felt the same. But the pain was worth it. When the second had passed, and both twins collapsed to the ground and sit on their thighs, the sky was clear again, blue and bright, without a trace of the yellow flames or even the acrid smoke.

When he could bring himself together and turned his attention to his surroundings, he found his previous question answered. Beside the unrecognizable remains of the bus and the tanker truck, which seemed like toilet paper being crushed now, were police cars, and ambulances, tons of them, with the others entering and leaving the back section of the ambulances.

Worst of all, however, were the police's guns that were being pointed towards the four's position. The police stood behind translucent shields, their faces covered, which only made them more menacing than they were supposed to be around children.

"Don't make any moves if they don't tell you to." Rikuto whispered to the Coredramon. "This is serious."

A distant yell sounded. All Kaito could hear was "put your hands in the air!" and anything else sounded so far away. He did so, glancing at his partners to notify them to do the same, and slowly rose up.

 _This is not what you think it is!_ He almost spoke the words out loud, but kept them to himself. It wasn't hard to stay silent with real, loaded guns pointed at you.

Another voice sounded. Kaito could not make anything out of it at all, but decided it probably told them to move towards the police slowly. It was usually the only things the police said, he remembered from TV shows.

Slowly –really slowly as though he was a child playing hide-and-seek –he gestured the others and took steps towards the police. The police tensed, guns pointing straighter as they backed away. Kaito instantaneously gestured for Blue and Green to stop, nodding to them to tell them it's okay. He exchanged a look with Rikuto, reaching a common answer.

Together, they reached out to the police slowly, hands behind their heads all the time. Step by step, centimeter by centimeter, they reached the supposed guardians of the city, who now thought of them as public enemies. Each step felt heavy, as if extra oxygen was consumed right after each deep breath.

When they were only inches apart, two police suddenly reached out from nowhere, each grabbing a kid in the arm, dragging them towards the police cars.

"Wait, let me explain first!" yelled Kaito, but no one would hear.

No one until he arrived.

A shout, then several heavy breathes. The police turned to see a teenage boy about the age of the twins with short brown hair and a white shirt over a red long-sleeved t-shirt. He looked tired, like he had just run for a few miles, and along with him was a Digimon that looked fairly resembling to a lion cub.

Kaito noticed that as well, and recognized the boy. Katashi.

 _What_ _'_ _s he doing here?_ He thought. All he could see from the inside of a car was limited, however, and he couldn't make out what he was telling the police. He could at most guess that Katashi was doing something relevant to the car accident.

* * *

When the conversation was over, Katashi paced towards the police cars and gestured for the twins to come out. He looked tired, but still friendly.

"You all right?" he asked first.

"What are you doing here?" Kaito demanded, not even pretending to be nice.

The two Coredramon, on the other hand, had degenerated into more cartoon-ish Digimon, known as Dracomon. They spotted their partners at once, and thundered towards them as if the police standing in between never existed. This time however, the police didn't take hostile approaches, nor did they attempt to "arrest" the twins again.

"Would it kill you to say a 'thank you'?" uttered Liollmon.

"Have you been stalking us?" questioned Rikuto. "Cause I can't really find another reason for you being here so quickly."

"Can we not talk like this every time?" uttered Katashi. He really had no idea why it was that hard to converse with the twins without turning the conversation into a fight. "I'll tell you everything, okay? So just try and let me speak."

"Go on."

"Well, I didn't stalk you, to make it clear." He started. "I only came here when I –Liollmon, actually –spotted the smoke coming from here. We both thought it was a Digimon attack, so we hurried here. When we arrived, I saw the police pinning you into the cars, and thought that must have sucked, so I used Smith's name to get you out."

"Smith?"

"In case you didn't know. His name literally opens doors these days." Said Katashi with a shrug. "And please try not to let him know of this; I didn't really notify him."

"Then I see you have failed miserably."

Smith's voice, Katashi could recognize that. The only thing he couldn't recognize was where the sound came from. He turned around nervously, locating the source with his not-too-exceptional hearing.

"Here" the voice spoke again, this time loud enough to lead him to a police car.

The boys entered the car, and found the mini-monitor inscribed next to the driver seat turned on, Smith's face being shown with his office being the background.

"An officer notified me earlier." He said solemnly. "I want all three of you at my office, now."

* * *

"I told you it was an accident!" Kaito was shouting, his expression unfamiliar to the Dracomon. "Why'd you ask if you were never gonna trust me?"

"I'm just trying to verify." Said Smith coldly, his gaze landing on the pile of paper on his wooden desk.

"I think you're trying more to drive us crazy." Uttered Rikuto. "There's the three of us here, and still you need verifying. Do you actually trust anyone?"

"My distrust towards you is the same as yours towards me."

"And me?" interrupted Katashi. He was the one to bring them all to the man, and yet he was the one to have been asked to stay silent. "You can trust me, right?"

Smith tilted his head so that only one of his eyes was staring at the brown-haired boy. "That depends."

"On what?" demanded Liollmon. He'd prefer to stay silent in front of the man, but not when his partner was insulted, intentional or not.

"Save it. He's just trying to force us into saying what he wants!" Kaito uttered furiously.

The Dracomon watched them fight with words. They couldn't understand why they fought, but decided it was best that they didn't interfere this time. Who knew what kind of catastrophic outcome might result if they got involved in something again? And that might very well upset their partners.

Smith was quiet, but not speechless.

Katashi approached him. Eyes opening wide, he stomped both his hands on Smith's desk, the shockwave quaking the pile of paper. His eyes narrowed, the same degree as the last time he'd done when asking to take Yuzuki's place.

Smith looked up to him for a second, but was not moved.

"You gave me this position." Katashi whispered. "You wanted someone to lead a new team. You wanted to use us, so at least give me a reason why we should be used if you don't trust any one of us here." His voice was low, but each word was as clear as water drops in a stone cave.

Smith frowned, but was still just observing.

"You should consider giving us some privileges, if you intend to keep us under your command, because no one likes a commander who disapproves every one of his actions, especially these two over there. I don't know how you intend to convince them, but I'm absolutely not convinced, not then, not now. "

Next to him, Kaito somehow shivered, like the room temperature had just dropped ten degree Celsius. A day ago, Katashi had been just another Mr. Nice-guy, perhaps one with a Digimon partner, but definitely not one that made him feel anything in particular. But now when he looked at him, he saw an offensively persuasive figure, even though he could make out any of his words. And it scared him, at least if he had been the once to face him.

Smith leaned back a little; his facial muscles relaxed a bit, and said, "Very well. Maybe you do have what it takes to lead a team."

Katashi stepped back.

"But I still have my terms." Announced Smith, loud and clear. "The passengers are still haunted by the imagery of the Coredramon, rational or not, and I need someone to take responsibility for that."

"Excuse me?" demanded Rikuto.

"I mean, even though you _were_ not the real reason for the incident, the people don't think the same. And I need a way to comfort them."

"Maybe you can announce a better traffic plan!" muttered Kaito.

"That wouldn't be my job." Answered Smith coldly. "What people need to see now is that you Tamers can discipline yourselves, give them confidence that they can leave the world in your hands."

"And what master do you suggest?" demanded Rikuto.

"Very simple." Smith's eyes looked like they were about to jump out of the sockets any moment, the pupils constricted. "You need to be made an example by being punished."

"Do you not know the meaning of accident?" demanded Liollmon. He never liked the twins, but he didn't hate them either, and he wasn't going to stand aside while seeing them being targeted for unreasonable treatment.

"Accident is caused by carelessness." Said Smith. "And I need them to show their ability to take responsibility."

"For something that they did nothing to cause?"

"They did nothing, exactly."

Kaito's heart bumped faster. He could easily guess the next few words of Smith. They were about to be blamed for not having tried to save the others, though there hadn't been any casualties so far. For some reason it felt like Smith was doing that on purpose, maybe he needed to ensure their loyalty, or maybe he just wanted to make a scene out of them to showcase his power. Either way, Kaito was sure words couldn't save them this time –not even those from Katashi. He decided that he hated Smith, even that was just the second time they met. He felt like every other persons that had been mean to the twins fused together.

"Do you know how many more you could have saved?" the words came streaming out from Smith, smooth as snow.

"They were practically victims as well." Katashi argued.

"None of you should let yourselves be."

"So what do you want?" Kaito finally shouted. He couldn't take the verbal combat anymore. "Just say it!"

"Public service." Smith said. "The both of you. I want you to show me that you can obey my orders. Nothing else."

"It's just me." Kaito said before Rikuto had any chance to spill a word. "Riku was unconscious back then. If you're gonna find someone to blame, it is all my fault. He's nothing to do with this."

"You don't understand…"

"I do!" shouted Kaito. "You want us to obey, right? But you at least need a reason for us to do so, and you have no reason to get Riku into this."

"Very well." Said Smith. "I suppose you'll be informed soon."

With that he gestured for the kids to leave.

* * *

The next morning, Katashi came to visit the twins on a duty trip, though he'd rather not think of it that way. Smith had indirectly appointed him to escort Kaito to him. And as much as he disapproved of Smith's method of command, he had to gain his trust. It's the only way he could stay in the position that wasn't supposed to be his.

He tried to brightened things a little by trying to think of it as simply a visit to his friends, though he really doubt his ability to make friends now. It had seemed to him that he hadn't been good with people lately; literally everyone hated him or was troubled by him.

"I still think we should have informed them first." Muttered Liollmon.

"I still insist that I would've if I had their contacts." Replied Katashi.

It didn't take long for them to reach the district in which the twins lived. It was only through the official address registration that he was able to find them, and even then he didn't know if they had moved or not. The only thing he could be sure was that they lived quite a distance away from the usual residential areas, making his trip doubly pricey, especially if he'd been mistaken.

And it didn't make sense at all, or it was just a one-in-thousands occasion. The district was famous only for the high-end residential buildings. It literally was loaded with marble and fountains, and though he hadn't seen anyone around, he was sure it wasn't a place filled with people even in normal times.

"So they live here," mumbled Liollmon, raising his head so that he could see the front door of the building. "If you're right."

"Then let's hope I'm" said Katashi dryly. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The building was a three-storied one, walled with smoky-brown marbled. Fancy metal curves lined that front door, which was held back by another door –gate –that stood between Katashi and the house. The number plate on the right to the gate handle read exactly the number he needed to find, and it was delicately designed as well. Sucking in a deep breath and trying not to imagine the embarrassment he'd have when stranger walked out and asked him tones of questions, he pressed the doorbell.

A woman answered the door several seconds later. She was old –the kind that was only visible on mothers –and well-gloomed, walking straight towards Katashi. She stood very upright, almost as if her vertebral column was straight instead of a double s shape. Her hair was of a beautiful blonde, glistering with its curvature.

"How can I help you?" she asked, her blue eyes inquisitive, as if Katashi was the first visitor she'd even seen.

"Um…hello ma'am." Katashi started. He was never good answering stranger –complete stranger, and ones that might very well be embarrassed by him –when his mind was occupied. "I'm here to see Kaito. Does he live here, because he never gave me his contacts." He ended up speaking more than he'd wanted to; his mind filled with imagery of him making a mistake and the woman accusing him of harassing.

 _Think on the good side._ He tired. _At least you_ _'_ _re still a little kid. No body could possibly get mad with you mistaking an address._

"Oh, that's…new." The woman mattered. "I don't know Kai has a friend."

"So, he lives he?" Katashi uttered in relief before realizing he shouldn't.

"Of course. They never really have much friends visiting, though." The woman said, shoving Katashi in as she opened the gate. "I'm Kaito's mother. Com'on in, what are you standing there for?"

"Thanks." Said Katashi. He sounded more like himself now.

"I'm glad they actually made friends." The woman mumbled, seemingly in joy.

* * *

Rikuto was in the street early that day, accompanied by Green. For some reason, he wanted to leave his brother alone, believing that would make him feel better.

"So, where are we going?" asked Green, as inquisitive as always.

"No idea." Rikuto replied. "Let's go wherever we feel like. It's more fun that way."

Together they walked along the morning street of a rather remote district in Vertiro. Rikuto liked morning, when everyone was still clinging on their beds and was too busy to fill the streets with noise. He'd prefer the quietness that came with the absence of all those people; it made him feel calmer, more like home.

It was only the third day he'd met Green; he hardly remembered that. All he had in mind was to show as much to Green as possible. Across them was the restaurant he was used to spending time in, but it was too early for meal. Next to him was the boutique he got his "uniform" outfit. Ahead was another bookstore he was used to hang around. This place was full of memories, of him and his brother, alone. They were better that way. And he wanted to introduce Green –and Blue, if possible –into the collection of his mental images.

"What about I take you to the park?" he suggested –another place with good memories. "I think you're gonna like it there. The air is fresher and the sun is a lot brighter and…anyway, there's a good place." He said energetically with a yawn. "And I won't be that sleepy there."

"Then off we go!" replied Green, equally eager.

The next sound that came, however, was one that brought up the bad stuffs.

It was a simple call, one that could easily be mistaken as friendly call. But Rikuto could easily identify that as a teasing one.

"Hey there, Rikky!"

 _Why now, here?_ Rikuto thought. He knew that voice. It was from one of his classmates called David. When he turned to face him, he noticed that he was with his little gang of bullies.

"What's up?" he tried to act normal. He never liked the gang –not to the point of hate, but just dislike –because of their constant harassments. They often justified their acts as friends playing prink on friends, but everyone knew that wasn't the truth.

The gang approached him. "What're you doing this early on the streets?"

"And what are you doing here?" Rikuto demanded. He tried to act brave, but couldn't. his voice trembled a bit.

"Nothing, really." Said David, closing in to Rikuto. "What about you? Not with your brother today?"

"We're not obliged to be together all the time, you know?"

"What's going on?" Green whispered behind Rikuto.

"Nothing. I've got this one." He whispered back.

David continued, "Well, just wondering who'd you go crying to if he's not there." The others laughed all at once.

Rikuto was enraged. He gritted his teeth, taking a step ahead. "Say it again!"

"What? Think I wouldn't dare, like you?" said David casually, shrugging. "Whom'd you go crying to without your brother?"

"That's enough!" to his surprise, it was Green who said that. "You can't talk to Riku like that!"

"You've got yourself a little pet, I see," said David. He didn't seem to care about his personal safety, like his gang, until Green came rushing forward, jaws opening wide, only to be held off by Rikuto.

"Stop it!" he yelled. "I know they aren't nice guys, but you can't hurt them."

"Why?"

"Because…you just can't okay?" he said. "There's just something you got to do without explanations."

With that, Green backed off a little.

And then a howl came from behind.

* * *

"May I ask how you met with the boys?" Kaito's mother asked as she led Katashi into her living room.

"That's a bit complicated, Mrs. Fujimoto." He answered shyly, hoping she wouldn't ask further. "All I can say is that we're not classmates kinds of friends."

"Of course you're not." The woman said as she gestured for him to sit on a couch. "You may have noticed that they are a bit hostile towards others. That's because they are always bullied. You can't really blame them."

"Bullied?"  
"Well, when you have a single mother, have bizarre hair color, and are rich, you are likely to get bullied, too." she explained calmly. "Do me a favor and don't let them know what I told you."

"Well, I never really thought they were…" Katashi failed to find the right word to say. "And I didn't really think they're…rich."

"They do a good job covering that." Said the Mrs. Fujimoto. "You will, too, when all you want to do is to be ordinary." She looked around, clueless. "Kaito should probably still be in bed, and Rikuto got out pretty early today. Speaking of friends, they've got some lately."

"Yeah, I was kind of involved in that." Katashi said numbly. He didn't know if she had approved of the presence of the Dracomon or not.

"I should thank you, then." She said, smiling. "I never thought they would be able to have friends."

She stood from her sit, turned towards a corridor, and said before she walked. "I should let him notice."

While she was gone, Katashi spent his time scanning his surroundings. The carpeted floor, nicely painted walls, elegant cutlery, all were things he could only imagine when he was tasked with writhing a few humdred words for homework.

"Try to be nice, okay?" he told Liollmon.

"When have I not been nice?"

"Sometimes." Katashi answered. "I know you don't like them much, but try to be friends, okay? That's the best way we can do for now."

Several seconds passed, and Katashi was beginning to feel uneasy. He was just not used to this kind of luxury. To him, home was always a glorified storehouse with a bed, and Internet.

So when Kaito came out, he was relieved.

Kaito still looked sleepy, which was understandable, given the lot that had happened in the past few days. Even Katashi himself would admit that he wanted to stay at home and sleep in for a couple hours than doing this job for Smith.

"What're you doing here?" said Kaito coldly, his voice mixed with a yawn.

"I can wait if you're tired." Katashi said. He got closer to Kaito, not wanting his mother to hear what he was going to say, then whispered, "Smith has decided your punishment and I was sent to escort you."

"I call this privacy invasion." Kaito answered. It made sense to Katashi, since it was his house, after all. And he most certainly wasn't pleased with someone seeing him in pajamas.

"Well, I'll call next time, if there is a next time." said Katashi. "Get dressed first. Smith doesn't like us late."

* * *

The howl scared David and his gang away. They all got behind Dracomon, certain that some more vicious Digimon was out there ready to tire them into pieces.

"Well, next time you want someone to go crying to, try not to find me." Rikuto commented sarcastically.

The howl sounded again, much louder this time. Rikuto could be sure that some rouge Digimon had targeted them, and was about to strike.

"Green, I might need you to fight." He told his partner. "And you'll probably have to do that a lot.

Green looked around, but couldn't see, or sense, any hostile object. It wasn't until a shadow leapt out of an alley behind them did he realize the enemy, and by then it was already too late.

Rikuto's Digivice read, "Cerberumon, Ultimate, Virus Type."

When Rikuto could see the hound-like Digimon, Green was already pinned on the ground, struggling to get rid of Cerberumon. The black Digimon opened its jaws wide, orange flickers gathering inside its cavity.

"Emerald Blaze!" the wild Digimon fired a tower of flame towards Green, the light blinding him. But the light of the fire wasn't the brightest. Instead, it was a white glow, a glow that felt warm and comforting yet filled with energy. And when the radiance faded, two large wings spread open wide, and another howl sounded, loud enough to cover that of Cerberumon's.

* * *

 **To my only (so far, and I expect more!) reviewer, I'm sorry if the "wolf" thing in last chapter was misleading. It was just a metaphor, and there is no Digimon that caused the accident (otherwise it wouldn't be an accident). And Digimon just weren't idle enough to cause a car crash with no motives.**


	6. A face

-A Face-

Waves after waves of radiant, orange flames chased the Coredramon just as he began to take flight and get the advantage of higher ground. Unfortunately, one shot got him, hitting him in the wings. A scream came, followed by the loud bang created by Green crash-landing.

Disoriented, Green struggled to find footing, rising up slowly. But Cerberumon wasn't allowing its opponent to have even a second of rest. Growling, Cerberumon charged forward, the razor-sharp claws on its forelimbs shining with reflection, giving a vibrant silver color.

"Styx Killer!" with a creepy snarl that sounded like a zombie Rikuto could only imagine, Cerberumon raised its forelimbs up high, gathering potential energy before it struck, the claws moving so fast that they almost turned invisible.

Green barely escaped the strike, taking a u-turn before starting to retaliate. "Strike Bomber!" he yelled, slamming his spiked tail Cerberumon. The strike was successful, and it hurt Cerberumon so effectively that it felt like he was just being beaten by a swinging maze. It could almost feel its bones fracturing under the impact.

"Keep up with the good work, Green!" Rikuto yelled. Not having much experience as a Tamer –or Digi-Destined –he could do nothing but to ensure that his bullies had fled to somewhere safe.

"Green Flare Breath!" Green fired a stream of flames, green like glass. The attack hit Cerberumon right in the head, leading to the poor Digimon's screaming.

"Easy job!" Green commented.

But the fight wasn't over. In the cloud of smoke and flame, a silhouette raised up, amber eyes penetrating the green smoke. The noise of flame burning covered the gasp of air Cerberumon was producing. And within a second, it was no longer just a silhouette, but a ball of blackness that jetted towards Rikuto with full speed.

"Look out!" having turned his back on the flame and believing the fight was over, Rikuto failed to notice the Digimon's strike.

Green, who had noticed the strike earlier, flew faster than he'd ever done and pushed Rikuto away. The human feel. He could sense his skin burning from the scratches created by the floor, but the pain was nothing compared to what Green was baring.

When he turned to look for his partner, he discovered a giant hole on the floor, bounded by a dark violet curve, with absolute blackness towards the center. He had a bad feeling, and it was confirmed when he saw Green barely keeping his balance midair and Cerberumon binding his limbs around Green like a living cage, weighting him down. He could almost be certain Cerberumon was trying to drag Green into the non-attractive black hole. It reminded him of the portals the government designed to travel through the Human World and the Digital World, though he'd only used those one, and it had been an illegal act.

"What are staring at? Do something!" a voice came from behind –voice that belonged to a girl. "You're his partner, right?"

Rikuto turned, and saw a girl about his age, with dark red hair that was tied into a knot. Her outfit seemed strange, at least to him, since he'd never properly talked to a girl before. The girl wore a purple tank top, covered by a military green short-sleeved jacket and a pair of jeans that looked quite new.

"What are you waiting for?" the girl asked again, approaching Rikuto. Her eyes looked enraged, as if she was watching a sports competition and got disappointed.

"What…who are you and…" before Rikuto could finished, the girl's face was already inches away from his, her sharp eyes made her somehow meaner that Cerberumon in appearance.

"You have a Digivice, right?" she started searching Rikuto's pockets without permission, and got a green Digivice from one of his pockets on his shorts. The whole process lasted for no longer than a few seconds, but it nevertheless embarrassed Rikuto.

"Wow!" the girl's green, sharp eyes turned into large, watery ones, as if she'd just seen her idol passing by. "You are a Destined?"

"Kinda, I guess." Rikuto replied numbly.

But the girl's digression only lasted for a second. With her minds seemingly cleared, she took a deck of cards from her pockets and began selecting, eventually getting two between her fingers. If those hadn't been Digimon cards, Rikuto would say he'd just met the youngest gambler.

"Offensive Plug-in A!

"High Speed Plug-in!"

As she swiped the two cards across Rikuto's Digivice, Green started to glow with a warm light. And by the next moment, he was already gone. Having no footing, Cerberumon instantaneously fell into the black hole it'd created, its claws roughly hanging it on by the edge of the hole.

In a flash, Green was back to Rikuto's side.

"Finish him!" the girl said.

Green was about to make a fatal blow, but was stopped at the last moment by Rikuto,

"Why, Riku?"

"I guess that's enough for him." Rikuto replied. All he could hear now was the endless morns produced by the extreme fear Cerberumon; all he could see was Cerberumon's claws sliding towards to black hole, inch by inch. He couldn't imagine the pain and the fear Cerberumon was facing.

'Get him out of there." He said, his voice plain.

"But!" the girl insisted.

"If you say so, Riku." Green said before flying at his still enhanced speed and rescued Cerberumon in an instant.

"You've done something very wrong." The girl argued. "What if he still wants to fight?"

"That's my business." Said Rikuto.

Slowly turning around, the both of them saw the battered Cerberumon, its will to fight completely gone. It soon paced in small steps back into the alley.

"See? Problem solved." Said Rikuto as he let himself collapse by the walls of the alley, sitting there.

"What's wrong with you?" the girl asked. "You all right?"

"No." he answered, avoiding eye contact with the girl.

"Your brain got fried?"

"No." he repeated. "Everybody thinks I'm nothing without my brother, and now I had to be saved by a girl. So none of this is right to me!"

"So, you don't like getting helped?" she asked.

"I don't like everyone thinking I need help."

The girl looked amused. "So you're just shy."

"No."

"Then maybe you won't mind telling me your name?" she said with a gentle smile, reaching out one hand to help Rikuto get up. "My name's Ren. Hamasaki is the surname."

"Rikuto." He answered bitterly, as if she was some judge about to sentence him to life imprisonment. He wasn't afraid. Rather, he was annoyed. There had been too many things going against his will in a single day. "Fujimoto." He paused a little, then added, "Don't attempt to make any nicknames."

"Why are you talking to her like that, Riku?" Green, now degenerated back into a Dracomon, asked in a whisper. "Your face is a bit red."

"Shut up!" he didn't want Ren to heard that.

"So he can call you by your nickname?" Ren said sarcastically. "You're strange."

"What about you?" Rikuto demanded, hoping it will get the redness out of his face. "A Tamer?"

Ren's head dropped a little. Just when Rikuto decided the question had offended her, she started to talk. "Used to." She said, eyes glued to the ground, as if the Ren Rikuto'd just met was an entirely different person. "But my parents don't like that, so I have to give up." she managed to pull up a smile. "Don't worry. Valkyrimon –ex-partner and now friend –still lives with me." She took out her own Digivice, which was manufactured by humans. It had a much different shape than the Destined's, having a pill-shaped body and a large rectangular screen right in the middle. The black leather strips contrasted against the white paint of the model.

"I really enjoyed being a Tamer, as you just saw." She said, tying her Digivice on her left wrist. "Now that I can't really participate in any battles, I don't really have to wear it all around. But I like to keep it. And as you saw, I got out of control sometimes when I see Digimon battling each other." She paused. "Strange, huh?"

"Well, I didn't really elect to be a Tamer."

Ren looked angered. That was when Rikuto realized that he had made a mistake. From his limited experience, he could tell that it would already be suicidal to get a female mad, not to mention a teenage girl.

"With regards to that, I have two points to make." She said, her face serious. "First, I really expected a Digi-Destined to be stronger –a lot stronger than us Tamers."

Green observed that Rikuto's face was turning red again as he slowly shifted his gaze to the ground.

"Secondly, you might not like being a Tamer, but never say such thing in front of one, especially me!"

Rikuto turned to see Green still there. He gave the Dracomon a questioned look, to which Green couldn't reply, so he simply nodded.

"Sorry," Rikuto started. "I didn't mean to offend you."

Ren spoke immediately after he had, and she was back to her normal self again, with a warm smile hung on her face. "You'll have to make up for that." She muttered. "Let's see. What should I make you do?"

"You can't be serious…"

"Oh, speaking of seriousness." She started, biting her lower lip, which only made her smile broader. "You've to allow me to say your nickname."

"What?"

"That's a deal." She continued. "Or maybe you want to feel bad for the rest of your life remembering how you hurt a little girl's heart?"

"Fine, then." He gave up. "Since we won't be seeing each other for another time. By the way, what are you doing so early here?"

"I could ask you the same."

Rikuto took a few steps so he was standing right by Green's side. "This is Green." He said. "And I was supposed to take him around to know more about the city."

"Then maybe I can accompany you?" she said. "It's kinda boring just wandering around on you own."

"Whatever."

* * *

Katashi was amazed that none of them in the group said a word as they traveled to the Xe's wall. The whle party was too silent to be normal. He could understand why Kaito chose silence, but it was just making their truck lame, like they were prisoners being transferred.

Katashi tried to start a topic. "Anyone here want to ask me anything?"

There was no response. Blue had been the most outspoken one, but even he had gotten used to the atmosphere of the truck and decided not to speak.

"We're about ten minutes away from the destination." The driver informed them.

"Thanks!" said Katashi politely, as he'd always done,

"What are we doing there, exactly?" Kaito finally asked.

"Well, a few days ago, there was an accident at Xe's wall. You should remember that not much detailed was revealed. The truth was, it had something to do with whatever's outside and inside our city, or so I've heard from Smith's men."

Kaito sucked in a deep breath. "So they sent a kid there?"

"Two, actually." Katashi corrected him. "It's four to be more precise. You see, since I was tasked to supervise you, I practically lost a day as well. As did them." he looked at Liollmon.

"Sorry I got you into this." Kaito said lowly.

"Maybe that's what Smith'd wanted so long." Said Liollmon, jumping up and sitting a Katashi's lap. "You know, his punishment didn't really sound reasonable at all.

"Whatever. We're already on our way." Said Kaito. He looked around to see Blue dozing off. "Next time you decide to be a messenger, tell Smith I hate him."

"You can tell him that yourself." Replied Katashi. "I think that would be much more effective."

Before they could say another word, the truck stopped.

"You're free to go now, kids!" Shouted the driver. "Just remember don't get past the wall. Who knows if the Digimon out there are cannibal?"

"Don't worry. We can take care ourselves." Replied Katashi. "Thanks again!"

Kaito gently poked Blue's shoulder. "Time to get up." he said softly. When Blue opened his still dropping eyelids, Kaito decided he needed to help Blue get out of the truck. It took him a few seconds to guide Blue to the door, and by then Blue had already awakened.

"Good luck for you kids!" the driver's voice sounded more and more distant, as did the truck.

* * *

"Don't you think it's a bit weird that you keep following me everywhere?" demanded Rikuto. He was currently at a department store, at the men's fashion sector.

"Don't you think it's weird of a boy to shop at such places?" she asked back.

"Why not?" Green asked. Commonly, Ren would consider that as a trap question, intended to start a verbal combat by some ridiculously nit-picking guys. However, having noticed that the question was from Green, she answered gently. "Generally boys care less about appearances then girls do."

"Generally." Rikuto repeated. "Then where did my clothes come from?"

She didn't answer, simply whistling as she walked past him to another corner.

"And can you explain why you're following me everywhere?"

"You hurt my feelings, so you had to compensate." She said.

"What good does that do to you?"

She giggled. "You really don't have much friends, do you?"

"What's that supposed to mean? He became defensive. Ren's smile only embarrassed him more.

"You don't need a reason to hang out with friends." She leaned her face close to Rikuto's, and then whispered in his ear. "Right, Riku?"

"I told you not to…" he started, but quickly remembered his deal with Ren.

"At least I haven't bossed you around." She uttered. "Not yet, Riku."

"You don't have to keep saying that." He replied, not realizing his face blushing. "Only a few close ones know to call me that."

"You're one of the few?" she asked Green, who nodded in response. "Maybe I want to join the club."

"It's not a club." Said Rikuto. "And I don't really like having you around. No offense."

"Well, I was just bored anyway." She admitted. "I just want to stick to someone, okay?"

"Well, if you feel that way." Rikuto started, his eyes still avoiding contact with hers. "Maybe you can be in charge of our next stop?"

"Gladly." She replied. "Riku."

* * *

"What are we looking for here?" it was the second time Blue had asked the question, followinf Liollmon's

Kaito looked over his shoulder to locate Blue, and said. "I don't really know."

Right now, they were at the wall of Xe. Just a few days ago it was still in its glory days, with spray paints everywhere and guards keeping the bad boys away from trying to climb over the wall, which had already been impossible considering its size. But now, none were here, not even the guards. The attack a few days ago changed everything. Kaito only knew that a human kid was found out there via Katashi's words, which meant nobody knew that yet. He suspected the kid had something to do with Smith sending him here.

"At the top of the wall, everything looks different." Commented Katashi, who was sitting by his side.

"Just make sure you don't fall."

Katashi stood up. "We're mostly here to be left idly by, seriously." He gazed around, and sighed. "Smith insisted something would happen here after the incident a few days ago. Maybe that's the reason he got us here."

"So, we're basically waiting for something to happen?" Kaito asked.

"Basically, yes." He answered dryly as he gestured for Liollmon to come by his side. "Take a break first. It's getting kinda hot here."

"You don't know the meaning of summer, do you?" Kaito jinxed him as he, too, walked to Katashi's side. Blue followed tight.

Since they were on top of the wall, there was no cover for them to hide. The sunlight shone directly at them in the middle of the day. All they could do was to find a place where their shadows extended the longest, and sit there for a while –a long while.

"Let's get some diversion here, shall we?" uttered Katashi. "I don't like being scorched and bored at the same time."

"What do you suggest us do, then?" Kaito asked.

"Anything that can keep my mind cool." He said. "Speaking of coolness, why'd you still wear gloves under this kind of heat?" he muttered, though it made him feel more heat by imagining how Kaito's hands were like under the black, stretchy fabric. Maybe even a swimming pool or a good shower couldn't help him get rid of the feeling that was only in his imagination.

"I have my reasons." Kaito replied. "Besides, I'm not feeling the heat."

Blue joined the conversation. "What are we doing here?" his partner simply shook his head, making Blue confused.

"It means he doesn't know, either." Liollmon informed him. "You've got a lot of body language to learn."

"Body language?"

"It is some movements that tells you something on a person." Liollmon explained. "I don't know it very well, but generally different persons tend to have their own sets of body language." He pointed at Katashi, who was currently looking up at the sky; his eyes nearly formed a line with the sun. "Take Katashi as an example, he's bored whenever he does that."

"Really?" uttered Blue, looking at Kaito. "What about Kai's?"

"You should know better than me. You live with him, after all." Liollmon commented. He might not like either of the Fujimotos, but the innocence and ignorance of the Dracomon made him suppress that feeling. The smile on Blue's face just made him feel worse for mistreating Blue's partner.

Katashi looked to his side, where Kaito sat.

"Can I ask you something?" he said.

"What?"

"Why do you seem to hate me so much?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kaito said in an accusing tone.

"Well," Katashi started. "I was just wondering if we can be friends with each other because, you know, we're supposed to work together some times later. And you seemed to dislike me every time I show up."

"Everyone has secrets." Kaito replied coldly. "I don't think I'm capable of giving it to a stranger yet."

"So how can I become a non-stranger?"

"No idea."

* * *

"I believe I've paid back every word I said." Said Rikuto as they walked past a peculiarly shaped building. At first glance, Rikuto didn't really see much of a difference it had with other bizarrely shaped ones. But Ren stopped as they walked right beside it. She looked at the building with wary eyes, almost as if she was about to cry.

But she didn't. She just said, "You know what this building is?"

"What is it?" uttered Rikuto. He hadn't been fond of the girl since they'd met, but her watery eyes made the annoyance melt. She didn't answer, so he continued to examine the building as close as he could get, an image popping on his head.

The L-Shaped structure from aerial view, with the dome on top of one of the glass buildings, and an exceptional swimming pool for a building –all evidence pointed to it being the Institute –the one that was opened just by the end of last year.

When he turned to see Ren over his shoulders, and then he understood. She was inspired to be a Tamer, and the Institute was basically more a school for Tamers than a normal Institute. She must have studied there before, and those must be her good old days.

"I'm sorry." He said. "I forgot…I shouldn't have taken this path."

"It's all right." Replied Ren, a faint drop of tear ran down her left cheek. "The memories there are precious. That's it. Besides, I only enrolled in there for three months."

"I'm…" he started again, only to be interrupted by Green's words.

"Why do you keep apologizing?"

Ren giggled. "You've got a pretty cute partner, I see."

"So you're all right now?"

"I told you I was fine. You just didn't listen." She said. "By the way, Green. Riku only said 'sorry' for so many times because that's our way of expressing compassion."

"Speaking of compassion." Rikuto started. "Am I free to go now? I've spent the first half of the day with you."

"Just one more place." She said. "One more place I wanted to show you."

* * *

Waiting could officially top Katashi's list of most inhuman tortures.

It had been three total hours, and nothing except for the direction at which sunlight glowed changed. He tried not to think of a nice, cool bath at home, feared that the imagery would only aggravate his suffering.

"Smith told me we needed to wait until five." He said for about the second-hundredth time. "So it'll just be half an hour of waiting before we can part ways."

"Half an hour seems long here." Kaito replied weakly. "Sorry I brought you into this."

"What have I told you?" Katashi argued –if it could be acknowledged as one –and managed to pull off a smile. "We're likely to be here even if you hadn't been on the accident scene. You know how Smith thinks."

"I only know I hate him." Kaito would've shouted if he had some strength left. "And what are we really doing here, on top of a wall, when nothing happens outside."

Dracomon rose up, pointing at the sky. "What's that?"

A purple whirlwind appeared somewhere close to where Katashi and Kaito had been watching, and in a matter of seconds the wind changed into a hole, circled by violet lightning and an empty center. It was a Gate, and it was definitely not official, since those looked way different than this.

He got up, and told Liollmon to be ready.

"What's happening?" asked Kaito, his eyes fixed on the Gate. It was the first time he saw one that wasn't from human technology, and it reminded him of the rain of dragons the last year, when dozens of crimson-armored Digimon had descended upon the earth.

"I think something's trying to get here, but got the coordinates wrong." Katashi finished the sentence quickly. He wasn't going to make a joke about it. "Think about all those Digimon out there. Even if someone in the Digital World really were trying to get to us, they wouldn't risk being killed before they could do anything."

Liollmon glowed, and Digivolved into Grapleomon, readying a fight.

Yet nothing but the exceptionally creepy breeze was there.

"What are we waiting for?" Blue asked.

"Whatever trying to come here." Said Katashi numbly. "More precisely, whatever that tries to get here by killing us."

And then the breeze sounded. It was almost like a jet taking off; a rush of invisible force rushed right at the Destined, pushing them over to the floor. Fortunately none of them fell to the ground.

"Grapleomon!" Katashi shouted. Grapleomon immediately turned around, but couldn't see anything, not even a shape or outlines.

A huge bang sounded, and when they noticed it, the Gate had already been closed.

"Who's there?" Grapleomon shouted. "Come down and face as!"

Kaito thought the idea was the worst he'd seen –taunting an invisible enemy. He tried desperately to remember the day before, when Blue just Digivolved from a Fresh to a Champion. He ran his fingers along his pockets, and got his blue D-Magnus out, hoping something would pop out of the screen. Not to his disappointment, it did nothing.

But Katashi's Digivice did. His prototype Digivice let out a loud screech, its screen flashing with lights until one final word concluded the situation.

"Unidentifiable"

"Show yourself!" Grapleoman yelled again. However stupid it sounded, he figured that if he really could enrage his opponent, he might just have a chance to have physical contact with the enemy, and could capture it with luck.

The enemy struck again, this time targeting Blue. The Rookie fell, hitting the ground hard.

"How dare you!" Kaito yelled, but could do nothing.

And then the enemy stopped. It hadn't been invisible at all. Instead he'd just been moving exceptionally rapid for the eyes to follow. The creature stood on the edge of a wall, his blue skin flickering with crimson patches; his hand running along a stylishly designed lance.

When they were finally able to see him, Katashi saw a face of nightmares.


	7. A nightmare

-A Nightmare-

Katashi thought he recognized that face, though he hadn't seen it before.

The Digimon that stood in front of them looked utterly battered, with red, rough metal sheets covering his cobalt skin; four wings of the Digimon spread wide open, revealing holes and pours on them. His face was the most unforgettable part, if that could even be called a face. The Digimon's head was in a oval shape, with horns sticking to its back, some fractured while some still remaining sharp. The entire upper head was covered in a light purple visor, and on the visor were dots that shone back and forth randomly, making the Digimon look more robot and less a creature.

And then Katashi remembered. It was Cyberdramon – _the_ Cyberdramon Takumi'd told him about. And if what Takumi had said was true, then Cyberdramon should have been busted into pieces back in the Digital World. Another oddity was that Cyberdramon's head seemed severely damaged, with part of his visor cracking and even some light leaking out from the cracks.

Katashi had been told that Cyberdramon was some kind of mad scientists, but the figure standing in front of him looked purely maniacal.

He didn't have a chance to say a thing before a laughter busted out, with cracking sounds that made Cyberdramon seem easily breakable at any time.

 _A laughter, from that Cyberdramon._ Katashi was more than confused. He'd believed in Takumi's words, since there was no reason not to believe him. But he couldn't comprehend what was going on. If that truly was Cyberdramon, then both him and Kaito were doomed for sure. And he wasn't sure if they were about to just escape.

But Cyberdramon didn't strike, at least not immediately. Instead he was just there, standing and glaring at the Digi-Destined.

"What are you doing here?" clearly ignorant, Kaito asked.

Then there was another laughter, just as maniacal as the first.

 _That can_ _'_ _t be right._ Katashi reckoned. Cyberdramon was nothing like that, he could be sure, though he'd never met him –and he'd never wanted to –in person. That laughter was completely something foreign and was clearly a sign of danger.

Despite the laughter, Cyberdramon was completely still, as if the red metal plates all around him were actually clotted blood. The lights on his visor kept beeping, as if those were the words Cyberdramon expressed. And then he spoke, "New faces."

"What do we do?" Grapleomon whispered.

"Take our time and run." Katashi replied, in a voice lower than a whisper.

Cyberdramon had broken off from his stillness, and was approaching the Digi-Destined on foot, not even bothering to fly. His posture was weird, as if he was having an unbalanced body weight. Katashi gestured for the group to back off while he did the same.

Cyberdramon's steps came closer and closer, until eventually when both Katashi and Kaito were leaning against the edge of the wall. From there, any slight movement might mean a fall to the death, and neither of them wanted that to happen. Cyberdramon continued.

"Leave them alone!" Grapleomon charged at Cyberdramon, fists at the ready. Cyberdramon, however, did nothing to respond. He held one hand out, and Grapleomon was flung aside, as if hit by some invisible barrier.

"I know who you are." Demanded Katashi, his voice trembling. "What do you want from us?"

Cyberdramon hissed –another unnatural move for him –as he spoke, creating a disturbing clicking sound as if his head was going to break into pieces as he talked. "Nothing. Why would I want anything from you, whom I've never seen?" he was more like talking to himself. "But because of what you hold in possession, I fear I must exert a degree of violence upon you."

When he finished talking, Grapleomon had already gotten to his feet, ready to protect the humans. But Cyberdramon approached the humans no more. Instead, the Frankenstein-like Digimon took steps backwards rapidly; the uneasy hissing continued.

"What's happening?" Kaito whispered. Katashi could only shake his head slightly to indicate his innocence.

Cyberdramon stopped when they were a few ten meters from each other. That, however, didn't lessen the tension. Katashi kept his eyes glued on him feared that Cyberdramon should make an ambush. But he could see none. He only saw the cracks on the purple visor of the Digimon shining, as though energy actually flowed over those cracks. There was also tiny bits of lights glowing around the visor, as if whatever was inside was leaking.

"I don't need to do anything myself." Said Cyberdramon, "I have my servants. And, watching from the sideway has always been a habit of mine." He said with a laugh again, more maniacal this time, Katashi wondered if Cyberdramon's brain was under that visor, and that it was leaking out, driving the calm Digimon into this crazy version.

"Why are you here?" Grapleomon demanded, but got no answers.

Cyberdramon, acting as if he was the only one there, said, "I should just leave you here, or should I send my creation to you again? I just can't decide sometimes." As he finished, a giant purple Gate appeared behind him, and he jumped backwards into it without even looking back. Grapleomon made no attempt to pursue, knowing that he couldn't win.

"That's a relief." Katashi sighed.

"What's that?" Blue suggested, pointing at the Gate. Even with Cyberdramon gone, the gate was still there, and it wasn't in a stable state. If Katashi needed to describe it, he'd say that it was like a fragile sand castle he saw kids built, readily crumbling.

When finally someone got out of the gate, he froze.

* * *

"Where're you taking me to?" Rikuto demanded.

"Somewhere I think you need to be." Ren answered casually. She had an easy expression on her face, coupled with her big, grass-colored eyes. It made her look like just another normal, jolly little girl, unlike the one with the dense expression just minutes ago.

"Somewhere I need be?" Rikuto repeated.

Ren stopped, and turned to face him. "You said you didn't want people to think you need help, right?" she said. "I know a place where you can train to be that way."

"How?"

"You'll find out as soon as you're there." She winked. "As for Green, I believe you'll have fun, too."

They had been traveling for a bit more than twenty minutes, and Rikuto was starting to have the strange uneasiness that he should have felt long ago. They were walking in a path where he, Ren, and Green were the only occupants. He found it unbelievable that in a region as heavily industrialized as Vertro, could actually have signs of flowers, and not just the cheap, artificial cloth flowers, but actual ones, which emitted a relaxing aroma.

"I didn't know there's a path here." He commented.

"These are beautiful." Green said. "What are they?" he was too attracted by the vibrant colors of the flowers. They were walking in a secret path, thus all the wilted petals could be seen carpeting the floor, red and purple and pink. The petals didn't seem dead. On the contrary, they made the place livelier. On the two walls beside the path were the same flowers, brighter in color and more turgid. They looked almost like something straight out of a romance movie.

"I get it." Rikuto uttered. "This is your secret garden, isn't it?"

"Not just mine." Said Ren, she'd turned back so that she was leading Rikuto. "Ours." As she finished, she shoved a few overgrown leaves aside and beckoned for Rikuto to follow.

She looked proud. "Remember when I talked about my former partner?" she turned aside, and shouted. "Valkyrimon!"

Before he could see anything, a Digimon appeared by Ren's side. She stood at about the same height as Ren, had an overall white theme and some golden accessories that resembled armor.

"Valkyrimon, Mega, Vaccine type."

"Valkyrimon, this is Rikuto and his partner, Green." Ren said casually. Valkyrimon stepped up, apparently staring at Rikuto behind his sunglasses-like visor. A few seconds later, she stepped up again, holding her hand out.

"Nice to meet you." She said pleasantly. Rikuto imagined her eyes behind the visor, deciding how they would fit with the little smile on her face.

"Nice to meet you, too." said Rikuto shyly, holding out his hand for a shake. Green followed behind, bowing.

When all this was said and done, Ren guided Rikuto into her secret place. It turned out to be simple, like an abandoned park, except there were no playable facilities. Instead there was a large, black, leathered sand bag hung on a trunk, secure despite the age of the tree. And there was a pile of disposed tires stacking up at a corner, apparently waiting to be used with an entirely different purpose than they were intended.

"So, this is how you greet a stranger?" said Rikuto absently.

"No." Ren replied lightly. "But you're not just anybody, are you? You're a Digi-Destined! I could tell that simply by your Digivice." She sounded excited. "Only those who were born with specific qualities can be one, so I've heard."

Rikuto couldn't quite understand her. "So…what?"

"You remember the incident last year?"

"Of course." Rikuto answered quicker than he'd thought. "Giant Digimon falling from the sky, killing everything they saw. How could I forget that?"

"Well, I've heard that they were stopped by the Digi-Destined."

"So, you're a fan girl of them?"

"A bit," she said, trying to hide a smile. "I look up to them, you can say. That's why I decided to enroll in the Institute in the first place."

Valkyrimon was the next to speak. "Ren was a good partner, and got me Digivolved into a Mega in less than a year." She sounded like Ren's leaving the Institute was nothing. "Unfortunately, Ren's parents would not allow her to enroll, deeming that too dangerous."

"Therefore, I found this place." Ren sounded proud. "This is where we train, mostly me giving instructions and advise to Valkyrimon while she practices target shooting." She walked to the pile of tires. "Wanna watch something fun?"

As she said so, Valkyrimon had already gotten to next to the tires and lifted them with one hand, jumping high and letting go of them. She landed while the tires were still airborne, and aimed at each and every one of them, taking them down with just several shots with her crossbow. It was fast, and there wasn't much to see, just black shapes being flung everywhere.

"That's…" Rikuto started. "Impressive."

"Of course." Said Ren. "But she could do better. It's just not the proper place for her to train."

"I actually find it acceptable." Valkyrimon suggested.

"So…why am I here again?"

"Well," Ren looked unsatisfied. "You said you didn't want to look weak, didn't you?"

"That wasn't exactly the word," uttered Rikuto. "But yeah, I probably meant that."

Rikuto started again. "So, I'm supposed to be here to do...what?"

"I don't know." Said Ren. "I just thought that you might need training as a Tamer."

Valkyrimon stepped forward.

"I think you interest Ren." She said. "She hadn't been so eager in a while."

Rikuto was still confused. "You want to train me?" he said as if that was just a joke.

Ren approached him as well. Without warnings, she held out her hand, grabbed Rikuto by his sleeve, and dragged him farther into the garden. Rikuto mumbled a little inaudible word, but didn't resist. When she finally let go of him, she said, "I can't force you to do anything. But I'd say I'm disappointed to see a Digi-Destined so weak."

Rikito couldn't find a word to argue, because she's just made everything clear to him, and he agreed with her. He didn't want to be saved by others again; he didn't want to be the outsider who would do nothing while Green, and perhaps even Kaito and Blue, was risking their lives battling for whatever cause.

"Alright." he sighed. "How do I begin?"

"That's up to you to decide." Ren said with a smile.

* * *

Katashi stood frozen. He was too astonished to comprehend what was happening.

There had been Cyberdramon, who was thought to be dead. The Digimon had struck them, but not lethally. Then there was the disagreement between the described Cyberdramon and the actual, kind of psycho Cyberdramon. And if that wasn't enough, he's just seen another dead person in front of him.

Though confused, he said in a shaking voice. "Kaoru, remember me?"

The other boy was speechless, approaching Katashi. His face was pale and blank, emotionless, more like a sculpture than an actual human face. Mephistomon hovered beside him. Apparently he'd become Kaoru's partner Digimon, if their relationship could be considered a partnership.

Kaoru gave Katashi a questioning look, which explained everything.

So it's true. Katashi thought. He remembered when Yuzuki had described Kaoru as a totally different person in the last fight between. She'd even used amnesia to account for him being their enemy now. And she had been right. Katashi looked into Kaoru's blue eyes. They looked blank, as if the pupils had enlarged fully, leaving only black pits in his eyes. He'd imagined the dead-eyed creatures in books long ago, but Katashi could say definitively that Kaoru's eyes were the perfect example.

"What's going on?" asked Kaito, Blue standing by his side.

"Well." Katashi started. Explaining things to Kaito seemed to lessen the tension, or so he thought. "You remember the incident a year ago? He was my friend, and he was supposed to have di...passed away during the attack."

Kaito couldn't think of what to say upon the mentioning of the pass year's attack. He remembered vividly the images of the bunch of Chaosdramon X descending to the city and killing randomly. It had only been a year, and already those haunting memories had faded away. But now, he remembered how dangerous -or devastating -a Digimon-involved incident could be. He tilted his head slightly, eyeing Blue.

"We are not your enemy." Said Katashi, as calm as he could be, as he approached Kaoru step by step. Mephistomon made not moves yet, which made Katashi feel a little safer. Maybe Kaoru wasn't there to fight at all; maybe he could still convince his resurrected friend to return to their side.

But reality was way crueler than that. As Katashi walked closer and closer to Kaoru, Mephistomon blocked his path, standing between the two boys.

Mephistomon's eyes looked just as spiritless as Kaoru's, like two simple black spheres. Hovering, his limbs were all still, pointing downwards like a puppet in suspension. It wasn't his demonic look that alerted Katashi. Rather, it was his lack of offense that made him look a thousand times scarier than his lamp-like features look terrifying. He seemed hollow, empty, like he was really a puppet.

Kaoru took out his Digivice as well. It was clear to Katashi that a fight was inevitable.

"Grapleomon, get ready!" He shouted, not bothering to stay passive. If a fight were all it took to bring Kaoru back, he wouldn't hesitate.

"Blue!" Kaito got his partner's attention, but was interrupted by Katashi.

"You're not strong enough to take the fight." Explained Katashi.

"You don't get to decide!"

Even as they were arguing, the battle had already begun. Grapleomon rushed forward, intending to deal physical damage upon Mephistomon. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough. With light movements, Mephistomon dodged all the attacks just when he was about to get beat. He seemed so casual that it made Grapleomon look like a Rookie.

"The King of Fist!" frustrated, Grapleomon used the turbines on his arms to create a shock wave, sending it straight towards Mephistomon. The wave was fast, maybe even faster than the speed of sound in atmospheric conditions. Still, Mephistomon dodged the strike just as it was about to slice him into halves, almost as easily as dodging any other physical strikes. He moved in a swift motion, almost like a pendulum swing, his limbs motionless, like they were merely attached to his torso.

Blue had Digivolved into Coredramon just a moment ago.

"Blue Flare Breath!" with a shout, Blue flew towards Mephistomon, and aimed at his head from above. A stream of lilac flame found its way to Mephistomon almost instantly, having little delay between the shout and the strike.

Even without looking up top, Mephistomon managed to escape the attack, once again, just as the flame was about to hit him. Bricks flew as the fire struck the floor, creating a dust screen that hindered both sides' sight.

"What is that Digimon?" mumbled Grapleomon. Despite the foggy dust, he could still see well enough that he rushed towards Mephistomon when he was least aware of his surroundings. This time, he got Mephistomon. Using the advantage of his size, he gripped Mephistomon by his neck with one hand, throwing him out into the dust as if Mephistomon was weightless.

"Now!" he shouted.

"Strike Bomber!" Blue did a harsh turn and slammed his tail into the incoming Mephistomon, its spikes hitting him like a maze.

In the midst of all of that, Katashi approached Kaoru, who was still motionless despite the heated-up fight.

When Katashi was close enough, he said again. "Please, you don't have to fight us!" he walked up, and put a hand on Kaoru's shoulder, shaking him. Kaoru, however, didn't even make a move out of irritability. He just stood there, his eyes looking sleepy, half-opened with dullness inside.

"What are you doing?" Kaito demanded. He was more concerned towards the battle between the Digimon, which now seemed that they could actually have a chance to win.

Katashi, however, was not focused on that. "Can't you remember anything?" he kept telling to Kaoru. "Even if you don't recognize he, you should be able to remember Yuzuki, right?"

At the name of the girl, Kaoru flinched.

"Yuzuki…" he mumbled absently. His eyes opened a little wider, having a little emotion shown. "Yuzuki…" he kept mumbling, as if the name was haunted.

"You remember her?" Katashi asked.

But Kaoru didn't answer. He kept on repeating the word again and again, showing no control over himself. He stood steadily, but his hands were trembling. His eyes widened, and he slowly paced towards Katashi. He said something, but couldn't be heard by Katashi. Katashi supposed he was still saying Yuzuki's name, but was more confident now that he didn't really seem aggressive.

Katashi walked up and said. "I can bring you to her if you want to."

Kaoru didn't even look like he was listening. His scanned his surroundings quickly and aimlessly, still walking forward. Katashi could hear him this time, but he was saying something different.

"Enemy…" Katashi could hear that clearly. "Can't…fight…must…obey…" he grew weaker as he continued, saying a bunch of words that didn't make sense. He was leaning forward, losing balance step by step. Katashi ran forward fast, so that he could catch Kaoru as he fell to his knees.

"What're you talking about?" he whispered, holding Kaoru in his arms. Kaoru was breathing fast, like he'd just run for a couple of kilometers without rest, gasping for air as he tiled his head, his eyes meeting Katashi's.

Mephistomon noticed this while he was still fighting the two Digimon. Though he had the upper hand, Kaoru's condition distracted him, allowing Grapleomon to deliver one devastating blow before he flew towards Kaoru. He no longer moved in the ghostly pendulum way, but was rather in a swift motion, almost to smooth for human eyes to catch.

Kaoru suddenly made a snarl, and threw Katashi aside, standing up straight despite him still trembling. Mephistomon was already by his side, kicking Blue, who tried to interrupt, away, slamming him into Grapleomon as they both flew straight towards the edge of the wall, nearly falling if Blue hadn't caught Grapleomon in time.

Mephistomon exchanged a look with Kaoru, and then a Gate opened behind them. Without even a word of warning, Mephistomon flew backward into the Gate while Kaoru was still standing there, his eyes lingering on Katashi before he turned and left.

And then, there was a moment of absolute silence before the Digimon got to their respective partners.

"What was that?" asked Kaito as he approached Katashi, gasping for air. The event had exhausted him.

"My friend," answered Katashi absently as he stared at the empty sky, where the Gate had been. "A friend of my friend, I should say."

"Then why was he trying to get us killed?" Blue asked.

"I don't know." Katashi uttered. He turned to face Kaito. "But I know that I…we must do something to get him back to our side."

* * *

Kaoru didn't feel like himself, if he even knew how he was like.

"Something troubling you?" said a voice in the dim light. It was almost so dark that Kaoru could hardly tell if he was sitting or lying on the floor; he just felt disoriented. He imagined Mephistomon hovering beside him, since that all he did all the time.

And then he remembered the boy –Katashi, who'd reminded him of a certain name.

"Yuzuki…" he uttered, sounding tired. "Yuzuki…why do I feel like that name has something to do with me?" he put both his hands behind his head and curled into a ball on the floor.

The voice didn't answer the question. Instead, it simply said, "Why the sudden interest?"

"I don't know." He replied, the words hardly audible. "I don't know, sir. I don't know why I want to know." He closed his eyes, though he didn't really need to do that. He kept telling himself to forget about the name "Yuzuki" and focus on his mission, but the word just kept lingering in his mind. He couldn't get rid of it, and he didn't want to.

"Remember the day I found you?" said the voice. The owner of the voice paced towards Kaoru, and said again. "I'd told you everything I knew about you. I have no idea about the others." He said it so naturally that he sounded just like a human being, not a Cyborg Digimon.

"I just…" Kaoru started again. "Sorry, Cyberdramon, sir. I just can't get rid of the feeling that I should know more." He paused, sucking in a deep breath. "Does that make me strange?"

"Not at all." Cyberdramon answered. "It is natural that everyone wants to know more about himself or herself. I believe you're just one of the many cases."

Most other Digi-Destined probably wouldn't believe this, but this was what he did. Kaoru asked. "Would you ever abandon me if I keep asking? I know this is too much to ask for, but…"

"Why did you think I rescued you?" that's all Cyberdramon would say. "Why would I take care of you for over a year and then abandon you for no reason? Think. It is not rational at all. And whoever left you behind, not remembering anything…if I ever knew who they were, I would've told you. But now, let's just focus on the other missions you must accomplish."

"Yes. The missions."

"Remember this." Said Cyberdramon. The gentility in his words almost made his mechanical voice sound warm. "Everything I've done, it's for you own good."


	8. Reinforcement

-Reinforcement-

Katashi lay on his bed right after shower, not even bothering putting on pajamas, simply wearing a pair of boxers as he buried his face into the pillow. So much had happened in one day, and now all he wanted was a rest. He closed his eyes, readied to fall into a deep slumber at any time, but couldn't.

He took out his phone, idly checking any missed calls. And he found out that Yuzuki had called him, just not long ago.

"Hi. Did you call me?" he called back.

Yuzuki's voice came, and he felt like he hadn't heard that for years, "Yeah. I was just wondering if you're doing okay in Vertiro. I heard in the news that something happened near the Walls today, and there was the car accident some times before."

"I'm fine." He said softly.

"I was just…I couldn't help but think that you're somehow involved in all these things." She said, laughing at herself. "I'm over-worried, aren't I?"

Katashi started to speak, but held up for a second. He wanted to tell Yuzuki what he'd been through for the day, wanted to tell her that he'd seen Kaoru again, and that he couldn't take him back. "I…I did have some involvement with those things." He said. "But it's all right. Those were just simple accidents."

"Thank goodness." She replied. "I might have gotten too keen on these things."

"And, I…" Katashi said. "I came across someone today." He said, deciding that he should tell Yuzuki everything he knew about Kaoru. He had been in a relationship with her.

"And who might that be?"

At the moment just before the word came out, Katashi forced his lips to stay still. Hesitantly, he dropped the idea of telling her about Kaoru. He knew her too well, to the point that he could be certain that once he'd told everything to her, she'd start looking for Kaoru immediately, knowing that he wasn't necessarily a stranger anymore. But that was too dangerous even for her. Kaoru was with Cyberdramon, and that meant only danger.

"Nobody, really." He spoke. "Just the twins we caught back in the Temple." He was a terrible liar, so he decided not to lie at all; he just kept a part of the truth hidden.

"I've totally forgotten about them." Said Yuzuki. Despite being at eleven at night, she still sounded energetic. "Are you getting along with them? I mean, sure, you should be. You're kind of a master of making friends, after all."

"Well, things are a bit more complicated here." Said Katashi lightly. "With all those stuff to do with Smith and them. It just seemed that being a Tamer is worse than just a normal kid."

"Smith had you do something you didn't want?"

"You know him." That's all Katashi could say. "He's kind of manipulative, but out of good intentions, I think." He turned, facing the ceiling. "It's kinda late now. Maybe I should call you another time?"

"Sure."

"Bye then."

And then everything that's happened in one day came back to him. He'd just made things seem lighter that they actually were to keep Yuzuki out of the trouble, but he couldn't do that forever. He counted silently: him and Liollmon: the twins, and their partners. It was far from enough to stop whatever plan Cyberdramon had got. He was –though he hated to admit –not doing a good job as a leader. Furthermore, there was too little in his team.

 _W_ _e could never do this on our own._ He thought. The idea of recruiting more members occurred. It was then that he realized he was having the exact kind of thought as Smith had. He was about to get recruits from the Institute.

And with that settled, he fell into a sleep almost instantaneously.

* * *

Rikuto was out early the next day as well. He liked to wander the streets more than staying at home. Though initially aimless, he found himself again and again repeating the same path that could lead to Ren's secret hideout. It made him nervous, not being able to go wherever he wanted and always going to somewhere he never intended to.

Before the situation got worse, he heard Ren's voice calling.

"What brought you here?" said the girl, walking out to greet Rikuto.

"No idea." He said blankly. "I just find myself here again and again."

"So you missed me?" she said in a teasing tone. "Well, you're always welcome, since you're a Digi-Destined and have met me before."

Rikuto shrugged. "Can you stop calling me 'Digi-Destiend'? it makes me feel like I'm an alien or something like that."

"You should take them as an honor, in fact." Ren said. She held out an arm and grabbed Rikuto's sleeve. "By the way, is Green not with you?" she said as she started pulling Rikuto towards her.

"I'm not always obliged to be with him." Rikuto said dryly. "And can you please try and stop pulling me like that? It's…"

"Embarrassing?" uttered Ren, smiling. "Told you you're just shy. Let's just get going."

"To do what?"

"Train as a Tamer, I think." She said softly. "Why'd you be here if not for that?"

* * *

"I'm glad you didn't show up this time." said Kaito as he replied Katashi's call. "Why're you bothering me that much?"

"I just have something important that I thought both you and Rikuto ought to hear." Katashi explained. "I can't do that without actually meeting you in person."

Kaito sighed. He hadn't even gotten dressed into his normal clothes when he'd received the call. "If you're inviting me, I've the right to ignore you." He said hastily as he put on his gloves just before Blue wandered into his room.

"You know, even if I don't find you, Smith will, probably sometimes later." Said Katashi. He sounded tired. "Isn't it better to talk to me than him? At least you don't really have a reason to hate me."

"I can't say that for sure." Said Kaito. He glanced quickly to Blue, who was waiting outside his room. "Can't I even have a little privacy?"

Katashi sighed again. "Well, I'm sorry if I offended you in any way possible." He said lightly. "The thing is, now that you're confirmed Digi-Destined, troubles will come to you, with or without me. I just want to help."

"Stop calling so early in the morning and let me sleep in for a couple of hours helps." Said Kaito sarcastically.

"Just meet up with me, okay?" said Katashi, audibly annoyed. "I wouldn't have called you if not necessary."

"So where'd you want us to meet?" demanded Kaito. "And when?"

"The park opposite to Smith's office, at nine –in the morning, I mean."

Without even saying goodbye, Kaito turned his phone off. Blue walked in.

"Can I ask you something?" the Digimon said lowly.

"Of course you can."

"Why do you put on the gloves?" asked Blue. Green was there, too, standing right beside Blue. He looked even more inquisitive than his twin brother. "I never saw Riku wearing one of those."

Kaito sat down on his bed for a moment, and sighed, starting to speak in a light voice. "That's…something personal with me. And, I'm kinda used to wearing them." he forced a smile. "Why the sudden interest?"

Curiously, Blue said. "I think I saw something on the back of your hand before you wore them."

"It's just too dark here, I told you." Suggested Green.

Kaito approached the Digimon and kneeled a bit so he was looking into their eyes. "I've gotta be hurry. Would you mind if you can get out for a moment so I can get changed?"

"Sure."

* * *

Kaito had to admit that he got frustrated when none of his calls for Rikuto was replied. _Just where are you?_ He thought. He'd departed and was now getting going with both the Coredramon. Some passer-bys looked at him with strange expressions, as though they'd never seen a living Digimon in their lives. Kaito endeavored to ignore those inquisitive gazes, hurrying himself to the park. He was more used to people staring at him than getting embarrassed.

Impatiently, he took out his phone and called gus brother again. Still nothing.

"I wonder if Riku's with that strange girl?" uttered Green upon the unpleasant look of Kaito.

"Strange girl?"

"Yeah. He –we –met a girl yesterday, and she seemed quite interested in Riku."

"So, you have any idea where he'd be?"

"Maybe in that secret garden." Said Green. He sounded casual. "The girl's a Tamer, and has got a Mega as her partner. Maybe Riku can't get a good signal there." He said, demonstrating almost everything he'd learned about the world in the past few days.

Blue was the one to speak. "So where is that garden?"

"I don't know."

"You forget?" said Kaito. His voice filled more with disappointment than anxiety.

"I'm not completely accustomed to the streets around, you see." Green said as though it weren't a problem, losing track of Rikuto. "He won't be there for a whole day, I suppose."

"Better hope so." Said Kaito, he hadn't realized that he'd stopped to let the conversation happen, and now he was running out of time as well, if he'd ever intended to be punctual. With the staring of the strangers still happening, he put up his hood and put his hands in the pockets after gesturing for Blue and Green to follow him.

"We should get there first." He said. "And we can wait for Riku there, if by any chance he got my message."

* * *

"It's kind of weird to see you actually being on time for a meeting." Commented Liollmon, pacing around Katashi, who sat on a plain wooden bench, checking his phone frequently for any messages he could receive from Kaito. He'd called Rikuto, who didn't even answer his calls.

"I know I'm used to having a rather tight time-arrangement, but you don't have to be that surprised." He said, eyes fixed on the phone's screen.

He didn't have to wait for long, though. Within a matter of minutes Kaito had already arrived.

"Where's Rikuto?" said Katashi, a little disappointed to see only Kaito and the two Dracomon.

"Couldn't reach him." Said Kaito coldly. "I suppose you've called him in as well?"

"I thought you'd have informed him." Said Katashi, clearly surprised.

"So he doesn't know anything about seeing you?"

"Probably." Katashi sighed. "I'll try to call him."

As Katashi tabbed on his cell phone hurriedly, Kaito asked. "Why'd you call us? What actually happened that I'm inclined to do everything with you?"

Katashi was busy with his phone. He could still spare a second to answer the question, though. "Ever since you entered the Temple and was confirmed as Digi-Destined, you lost your freedom, to Smith, at least. He's always trying to let us do the city's security job."

"And?"

"You remember what happened yesterday, don't you?" said Katashi, suddenly sounding serious. Kaito nodded. "I believe we'll have to deal with that sooner or later, and I know for sure that just the three of us wouldn't be sufficient. Also, there's been something that happened outside of the Walls that Smith intended for us to investigate." Katashi said, once again sighing.

"So why us?" Kaito asked. "Weren't there six Digi-Destined to save the day?"

"You know nothing." Said Liollmon. "With the recent attacks, Smith wanted them to stay on guard in their respective districts."

"So he kept the experienced idle and want us greenies to save the day?" suggested Blue.

"That doesn't matter." Katashi said. "What _does_ matter is that we have to obey him."

Kaito said nothing. He knew too well how it was like to be manipulated without means to fight back. He just hoped that whatever they were to do, it would end soon.

"Just one more question." Blue uttered suddenly.

"What is it?"

"The boy we saw yesterday." Blue said seriously. "Who is he?"

Katashi suddenly paused; a little flinch occupied him. "He's…well. Let's just say that things are complicated with him." He said hastily. Blue showed a face that indicated more question, but it was then that Katashi reached Rikuto successfully.

* * *

"You look kinda cute when you're annoyed." Ren commented. She sat next to a stack of tires, beside Rikuto.

"Why're you so interested in me, again?" Rikuto sighed. He was sure that he felt awkward sitting with this girl, but it was also one of the very rare circumstances where he got to have a conversation with someone about his age without being picked on because of his white hair.

"Digi-Destined fan girl, remember?" Ren poked Rikuto in his cheek. He looked at her, eyes indicating a certain level of annoyance. Unbeknownst to him, however, was that his face had become almost as red as Ren's hair.

"Enough with that," he said finally. "How do I get to be stronger as a Tamer?" he asked. It was the only factor that'd kept him returning to the garden after wandering so long about the streets, or so he thought. He took out his Digivice this time, remembering vividly the first time he'd met Ren, when she'd searched his pockets without permission.

Ren smiled. "Just a Digivice is not enough." She said as she leaned closer to Rikuto, examining his Digivice.

Rikuto backed off about a meter from Ren. "You could just say it if you needed anything."

"Relax. You're not that lucky to have a girl search you pockets for more than one time." Ren teased him. "And I think you probably should know, that your face's so red."

"What?"

"That's why I said you're cute." Said Ren casually, still teasing him. She stepped away from Rikuto so he could sit straight. "Anyway, let's get back to business, shall we." She said as she took out a rectangular box. "I assume you know what these cards are for?" she said as she opened the deck, showing him a handful of battle enhancements.

"I do have these." Said Rikuto. "But they're not like yours; they're blank."

"I heard that Digi-Destined got these rare equipment." Commented Ren. "I've also heard that the cards absorb data of fallen Digimon."

"That sounds cool."

"Cool or not, I think we're done today."

"Why?"

Ren giggled. "You didn't really think you can do things without a Digimon partner, did you?" she'd burst into laughter. "What were you thinking?"

"It's not funny!" protested Rikuto.

"Alright, I'll stop it." apologized Ren, but a huge smile still lingered on her face. "But seriously, you know Tamers're nothing without a Digimon partner, right?"

"I don't want to stay on this topic, okay?" said Rikuto. He could feel his face getting hotter. "If you've nothing more to say, I'll go." He said as he turned and approached the exit.

"Just one more thing." Ren detained him by grabbing his sleeve. "Thank you/"

"For what?"

Ren took a deep breath before saying, "You're the first boy I've talked to that doesn't pick on me because I'm not girly enough."

"Well," Rikuto started. "It's also the first time I've spoken to a girl normally."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Rikuto replied. He could still feel his face warm as he walked out of the garden.

When he checked his phone, he discovered that Kaito had called him for several times in the morning. He wondered if he should reply, when another incoming call occupied him.

* * *

"Sorry I didn't get your calls." Said Rikuto as he rushed to the park. Kaito was standing there along with Katashi beside a tree.

"What took you so long, Riku?" demanded Kaito. He sounded more worrying than annoying.

"Were you with that girl again?" asked Green. "You seem to like her much."

"What're you talking about?" Rikuto said. "Where'd you even learn that from?"

"Can we get to the importance first?" said Katashi impatiently. "Now that we're all here, let's get going."

"To where?"

"Smith."

Kaito immediately stopped walking, staring at Katashi furiously. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Katashi turned back and gestured. "It isn't what you thought. Even Smith doesn't know we're going to him."

"You are." Snarled Kaito. "We're not."

"Can you just calm down for a moment?" Katashi said desperately. "I know you're not fond of him. But the truth is, if we're really going to do something as Digi-Destined, we're going to have to get his help."

"I don't see the connection between the two." Uttered Rikuto. "And I don't think any one of us here are here willingly."

"But…"

Kaito and Rikuto turned around, trying to leave.

"Can you just calm down and listen to whatever Katashi has to say?" shouted Liollmon. The twins stopped. "He wouldn't have bothered you knowing that you hate Smith so much. So why can't you be a little nicer and listen to his reasons before deciding that he was the bad guy?"

Rikuto was the first to speak. "Well then. What do you have to say?"

Katashi cleared his throat and walked up. "Sorry I lied to you." He said. "But I figured that Smith would eventually find you, whether you like it or not. So I thought we could give him a surprise visit, discuss some serious issues with him, and show him that we're able to take care of ourselves without his interference." When he finished, he took in a deep breath. "So are you with me, or not?"

"Well, in that case…." Kaito started. Both Blue and Green looked up at him, seemingly suggesting that he should give it a shot. "I don't want to have anything to do with Smith after this."

"I can't guarantee." Katashi said lightly. "But the odds will most likely be in your favor if we do this."

"So, are we going?" Liollmon added.

Kaito and Rikuto exchanged expressions with each other, than nodded silghty.

"We'll go." Said Kaito coldly. "But you just gave me another reason to hate you."

* * *

"Never thought I was so popular among children." Smith commented as Katashi walked into his office. Smith's secretary apologized, to which Smith merely waved her out. Upon seeing the twins, Smith said again. "Something must have happened to bring you two here."

They ignored him, simply following Katashi's lead.

"We have something important to discuss." Said Katashi so rapidly that he seemed to be breathless. "And I think you should listen to us very carefully."

"So important that you couldn't even have notified me first?" said Smith. Though his expression was as stern as ever, a slight trace of curiosity was in his eyes. And Katashi observed that. He knew he'd successfully gotten Smith's attention.

"Liollmon, tell him what happened yesterday."

Liollmon took a step forward. He stared at Smith pretty hard before starting to say. "We were under attack."

Smith leaned forward, his chin resting on his hands, which formed a stand on the table as the fingers laced together. "I'd have known it in the reports."

"You really think you know everything, don't you?" uttered Kaito, his voice filled with disgust. "We were under attack, at the Wall, and you didn't even show the slightest concern about that!"

"It's my duty to keep everything under control. That includes my mental state." Smith replied dryly. His gaze was now fixed on Kaito, who was giving him an equally challenging stare.

"Just tell him about that crazy-looking Digimon." Blue muttered.

Rikuto was confused as well. He looked over his shoulder to see his brother standing there, speaking of nonsense that he'd never even heard of. "What happened yesterday?" he asked like an idiot. Obviously, Green had no idea as well, so they just turned all their focus towards Kaito.

"We met Cyberdramon." Katashi said eventually. He noticed that Smith had leaned in a bit closer, and his expressionless face had gone, replaced by one inquisitive look. His eyes narrowed, and he seemed like when he had been a school headmaster, about to punish naughty little kids that broke the rules. To put it bluntly, he was engaged in the discussion.

"And, before you ask, it was really _that_ Cyberdramon." Katashi continued, leaving Rikuto in disbelief as his jaws dropped incredibly low.

"You did what yesterday, Kai?" he whispered.

" I didn't think it was that important, so I didn't tell you." He replied.

Smith had now gotten into full attention. He'd never met Cyberdramon before, like Katashi, but he'd heard enough of him from the Digi-Destined's words to know for certain that Cyberdramon returning meant only one thing –total chaos.

"And there was a boy with him." Kaito added.

"A boy?"

"It's Kaoru." Katashi explained. "You shouldn't be surprised."

"You have provided quite the information with me." Said Smith, his voice low. "And what did you expect me to do in return?"

"That's the reason we're here." Said Katashi. It was one of the few occasions where his seriousness could actually make him scary. "We're not enough?"

"Not enough of what?"

"Numbers!" he said so lightly that the others could barely here him. "We're not enough. Last time, there were sic of them, and even back then, their task hadn't been so abstract."

Kaito glared at him. "Don't you dare drag any others into this."

"I don't." He replied. "I just need someone that's already tied to the matter."

"And how does that lead to you breaking into my office?"

"The institute." Katashi said, almost in a shout. "We'll need reinforcement sooner or later. So, seeing that you're already training a bunch of Tamers, why don't you just add in a few more people into the team?"

"I though I'd made it clear that they were not ready for this kind of task."

"And we are?"

"Well." Smith gave up. He had always had a sixth sense when it came to people, and it was now telling him that Katashi couldn't be stopped, not even with his authority. He recalled the first time he'd seen Katashi like this, when he had been volunteering to take over Yuzuki's place to lead Smith's task force. He felt a little joy inside of him, though. If he was right about Katashi, then that persuasive power would make him a good leader, maybe even better than any one of the former Digi-Destined. "Even in the institute, you can't just pick someone randomly into your team."

"What's that mean?" Rikuto muttered. "Don't tell me you're trying to get us to do some nonsense again!"

Smith ignored him. "There is a way to select the best out of the elites in the Institute." He said, tapping a few buttons on his computer.

The screen behind him, hung on the wall, was turned on, showing random blue streaks at first, than a spreadsheet like table. It had the title "The First Institute Games"

'What's that?" asked Blue.

"You see, when the Institute was first found about a year ago, there were already hundreds of Tamers, lusting for a place in the Institute. As a result, we gave them a competition, in order to differentiate the skill levels of the Tamers and arrange them into the most suitable classes.

"It was merely a way to systematically run the Institute back then. But now, since we have the data, we can use it to determine the best of students in the Institute."

A picture was shown on the screen, and Rikuto froze, his jaws still dropping.

There were lines of writings below the picture.

"Name: Ren Hamasaki

Age: 13

Partner: Silphymon."


	9. A girl in town

-A girl in town-

"What's the matter with you, Riku?" Kaito asked.

"Ren was a champion?" Rikuto said absently, his gaze still glued onto Ren's photo. She seemed just like her real self in the picture, with the exception that she didn't have her hair tied into a knot. Rikuto simply couldn't believe she was once such great a Tamer.

"You know her?" this time it was Blue who asked.

"More than that." Rikuto replied. "I met her yesterday, and she was the reason l was late today." He turned to see an astonished Kaito.

"Than it's easier to get her into the team." Said Smith.

It was one of the reasons Katashi didn't like him much –practicality. Smith always put the focus on the practical side that he didn't seem to care or even understand how people around him feel. Katashi couldn't believe that Smith had once been the principal in his school back in Rn. He was pretty sure that Smith suited his current job as the supervisor of Tamers better.

"Wasn't she out of the school?" uttered Green.

"Indeed she was." Smith added. "Records showed that she'd been enrolling in the Institute for about three months before she dropped out. It appeared that she had family issues and therefore was not fit for classes. A shame it was."

"Family issues?" Rikuto seemed angry. "It was her parents that forbade her from enrolling!"

Smith sat back and turned off the screen. "We're not here to discuss your friend's personal problems." He said. "All I know is that she would fit in your team."

"So that's it?" asked Katashi.

"You sounded disappointed," said Smith.

"Of course I am!" Katashi said. "I went here because I believe there is an advantage in numbers. But now all you can get for me is _one_ Tamer?"

"She's a Mega as her partner." Rikuto added.

"That gives me more reason that you should find her." Said Smith, as inconsiderate as ever.

Rikuto, however, simply sighed.

* * *

Rikuto hesitated that afternoon. He didn't know if he should help convince Ren to join Smith's task force. He didn't even need to persuade her, in fact. Though they'd only met twice, he knew by instinct that Ren would love to join forces with Digi-Destined.

The one thing that kept him troubled was that if he should make the choice for her. It was no news that even if he didn't go, Smith would do the recruiting just fine on his own. He shouldn't even think about it. Yet, for some reasons, the mentioning of Ren's name just made him feel uneasy.

"Still thinking about that girl?" Kaito asked from behind.

Having been too focused on the topic, Rikuto didn't even recognize his brother coming, flinching as Kaito placed a hand on his shoulder.

"No." he said. "I was just...thinking."

"You're a terrible liar, Riku." Said Green. Rikuto could see his brother giving him a 'Even Digimon can see through you' face.

"Alright, I was thinking about her." he admitted. "But so what?"

"I guess you'll have to go to her." Said Kaito. He seemed less serious than he intended to. "You know, Smith's gonna force you to."

"I wasn't saying I didn't want to go." Uttered Rikuto. "It's just…I've only seen her twice! She's not so different than a stranger to me."

Green smirked. "Judging from your reaction when you saw the picture, I'd say she's more than a stranger to you."

"Seriously, when did you learn all this?" muttered Rikuto, embarrassed. "A few days ago you're no different than a baby."

"Digimon glow fast, I guess." Added Blue.

Kaito walked forth. "So, are you gonna go?" he sounded gentle, more gentle than Rikuto wanted him to. It made him feel like David's words were true, that he had to rely on his brother every now and then. He would've shouted to Kaito, protesting that he didn't need him to worry about, that he was capable of doing things on his own, but he knew Kaito was just overly concern, so he just nodded in reply.

"Well then." Kaito started. "Should I come with you?"

"No!" Rikuto yelled before he realized he was shouting. "I mean…no, thank you. I should know where to find her, and she doesn't know I have a twin brother, so we might scare her if we go at once." He knew it wasn't the most convincing excuse, but he needed to reject Kaito's offer politely.

Amazingly, Kaito didn't say anything. He simply nodded, got his hand off Rikuto's shoulder, and turned around. "See you later, then." He said lightly as he parted.

* * *

Katashi wanted to get lost. At least in that way, he'd be focusing on finding the correct path home, and wouldn't have much mental power left to handle all that stuff about Smith and Digi-Destined and Cyberdramon and Kaoru and a bunch of extension of those.

Liollmon could tell by instinct that Katashi wasn't acting like himself. "I don't remember you getting troubled for so long." He said, trying to encourage him. "Back then, when you had trouble, you'd just think very hard on it, and then laugh at yourself for being incapable. But this is different."

"I know." Katashi replied dryly. "I wish I could just do that as well. But the reality is that I'm handling something far out of control that I'd ever met." He sighed, like he'd done a lot lately. "I just don't want to screw things up. At least not this time."

Liollmon didn't know what to say, so he just kept walking with Katash in silence. He could tell just by looking at Katashi that his greatest concern was still Yuzuki. Katashi wasn't good at hiding that. He still loved her, Liollmon thought, and he was trying to do everything to keep her away from getting in touch with all those Digimon matter again. Normally Liollmon would just take that as one of Katashi's way to love someone, but he'd gone too far this time. He was worrying before any real trouble appeared.

"Maybe we should get relaxed sometime." Suggested Liollmon. "Not now, I mean. But with all those things that'd happened lately, my mind's gonna blow up."

"I could say the same." said Katashi sarcastically, followed with a laugh. "So many has happened lately."

"I wonder when will this end?"

"It seems to me that we're still gonna duel with it for quite some time." Katashi said; he sounded more optimistic this time, though. "You're right. I really should get some fun. I feel like I was turning into someone else lately." He smiled. Liollmon couldn't remember when he'd last done that. "That's quite creepy, isn't it?"

"Kind off."

"So, what'd you suggest we do?"

"No idea." Said Liollmon. "But isn't that how having fun's like? You've no idea of what you're doing, you just know it's fun."

"I haven't been lectured for some time, you know." Replied Katashi. The Katashi a few seconds ago had completely vanished. "But you'll do a great job at that!"

"Don't say that!" Liollmon uttered shyly.

Katashi would've said something, but his phone rang the exact moment his lips started to motion. Slightly annoyed, he took out his phone, and found out that he'd received a text message.

 _Nobody really texts me._ He thought. Despite that, he still opened the message. And then, his smile dropped a little.

"What is that?" Liollmon asked eagerly.

"See for yourself." Katashi said, almost as if he'd seen Kaoru appear again.

"What could that be?" mumbled Liollmon as Katashi lowered himself and showed him the screen.

"Hi! Haven't seen you for a while. Mind being my tour guide?"

What surprised Liollmon was below that line.

"Elsa Alden."

* * *

Rikuto returned to the garden, in hopes of finding Ren.

 _It's_ _not like she_ _'_ _d be here all day._ He thought. He'd been there with her in the morning, which left little to no reason for Ren to still be there in the afternoon. Even with that notion, he still came there. That was the only place he knew to find Ren.

"You remembered the way there just by having been there once?" asked Green.

"Of course." Rikuto replied. It helped make him calmer.

Receiving a questioning look from Rikuto, Green said. "I just am not good with directions."

"How'd you know that?"

"Well, I was barely out here without you or Kai." Green said. It reminded Rikuto the close bond they'd formed since the day they'd met. It seemed strange, at least to him. For most of his time, he'd been trying to stay as far away from people as possible so that he wouldn't be picked on. But now, he'd developed such a relationship with practically a stranger. He laughed at the thought of that.

"What's funny?" asked Green. The question made him feel dumb.

"Nothing." He said simply, blinking.

"Then why did you laugh?"

"I just felt like doing so." Rikuto said. "Anyway, let's get going. Maybe we'll be lucky to find her still in that garden."

It took them about ten minutes to reach the garden.

Rikuto wandered in. He could see the punching bag and piles of tires there, but there was no sign of Ren.

"I knew it." He uttered in frustration.

He turned to see Green, who was apparently trying to say something, but he didn't let him. Rikuto simply gestured for Green to stay quiet before he got to the inner side of the garden and sat on the tires.

"I know." Rikuto said, more mumbling than speaking.

It was simply irrational of him to sit there, but he just did. Somehow he chose to believe that he'd get lucky and get to meet with Ren. Even he himself didn't know why he wanted to do that. He just sat lazily, waiting for time to pass.

* * *

Katashi had long forgotten the girl Elsa, who'd paired herself up with a LadyDevimon, a villainous Digimon that had once worked for Reapermon. He could care less about her intention of getting to Veritro. Instead, what troubled him was the girl's totally inapproachable personality.

And most importantly, she lived in Rn, went to the same school as Yuzuki did, and had a habit of making people feel sick to the point where they could literally call a day off because of that.

He looked at the still under-construction train station, hoping to find her.  
 _How could I have left her with Yuzuki?_ He secretly blamed himself.

The station was severely damaged, but trains were still move to-and-fro, traveling around the city without much inhibition. To his right was a pile of bricks, scattered across the floor. A police sign was placed there to restrict overly curious persons from approaching the damage.

"Why do we have to look for her?" Liollmon complained. "I never liked her."

"That's exactly the point." Answered Katashi, his eyes busy searching for the girl.

"How can I let such an annoying person roam about freely?"

"That doesn't mean you have to meet her. You could still just walk by and pretend nothing'd ever happened."

"Alright, I wasn't just concerning over the damage she could do." Katashi admitted.

"I need to ask her about things. You know, those that happened in Rn."

"Because?"

"Because I want to know." Said Katashi, irritated. "Because I haven't been there for quite some time."

"And because you haven't seen Yuzuki for some time." Liollmon added.

Katashi didn't realize that his face was turning as red as his eyes. "Yes, of course."

He said slowly, like how he'd do when being wakened up really early in the morning.

Liollmon would've said something to tease him, but he couldn't get the chance. A pair of hands covered Katashi's eyes from behind, pulling his head backwards, towards a brick wall, he supposed.

"Won't you get tired of these tricks?" he said lazily.

The hands dropped, accompanied by a harsh voice. "That's how you greet a friend after so long?"

Katashi turned to see a girl -Elsa. She looked like herself, with a giant pony tail tied and her white-blonde hair shinny against her pink shirt and a pair of really short jeans.

"I don;t remember we being friends." He declared. "I took you at most as a classmate."

"It's still rude to talk to a girl like that." She said.

Katashi wasn't patient enough to let her finish whatever she was going to say.

"What brought you here?"

Elsa winked and smirked. "Can't I be here for...I don't know, sightseeing?"

"And why did you call me when you knew that I should've just ignored you?"

"Because you couldn't." Said Elsa. "You're too good to do that."

"And why should I listen to you now?" he demanded. "There isn't anything worth sightseeing."

Elsa mumbled a few words before she walked past Katashi and patted him in the back. "You know I've got some unusual hobbies."

"Like stalking around and making people feel sick?"

"I excepted better manners than that." She said with sarcasm, apparently pretending to sound disappointed.

Katashi, on the other hand, needed not pretend that he wanted nothing to do with the girl. In a very straightforward manner, he turned to face her, attempting to scare her a bit with a deadly gaze before demanding. "How's Yuzuki been?"

"She'd a boyfriend already, do I need to remind you?" she said lightly. Katashi never liked the way she kept a smirk on her pinkish white face when she talked. Sometime he even imagined that Elsa would've looked a lot lovelier if she could only discard her habit of being annoying.

But, since he was desperate, he simply narrowed his eyes, giving her a "don't make me repeat" face.

"Alright, I haven't been harassing her, okay?" she said with just a little more seriousness. "She acted tough, and seemed pretty normal, and I don't know anything other than that." She finished with a wink. "Happy now?"

Katashi still wasn't satisfied. There was simply too much precaution he'd to take when talking to the girl. "Why are you here again?" he asked, audibly impatient. "For real, I mean."

Elsa answered this time. It sounded unbelievable, given the fact that she wasn't always telling the truth, but it was evident that she'd put in more truth into her words this time. "I got a summons." She said, sounding bored. "By your little friend called Smith."

"Smith?"

"Haven't he told you?" Elsa said in her usual lazy tone. "I was quite surprised, in fact. You can't really understand what all the creepy old men are thinking these days."

"I don't understand either." Katashi complained. "You're not even a Tamer!"

"Am I not?"

"If you call that devil a partner, sure!"

Another cold yet pristine voice sounded from behind. "I can here you."

Katashi turned to see LadyDevimon suddenly appearing behind him. She was standing so close to him that he'd to lean back a few inches, and was caught off balance because of that. Fortunately he didn't fall. With his eyes remaining sharp and menacing, he demanded. "What do you want?"

"To be treated fairly?" LadyDevimon mumbled. "Don't forget I helped you save the world."

"It seemed to me that you're only trying to save yourself." Liollmon uttered.

LadyDevimon's face was placid, without much emotion being shown. She was like Elsa in a lot of ways, including their equally annoying sense of wit and their willingness to do almost everything to make others suffer. It would seem that they could really make a good partnership if not for the fact that the allegiance of LadyDevimon remained unchecked.

"What if she turns on us?" Katashi said directly.

"Haven't I shown you that I've changed?"

"Not really."

"Than I don't think you'll have trouble doing it again." She said lowly. "I don't have much to do, anyway. It's quite easily understandable why that many DIgimon want to ally themselves with humans. They simply won't need to do anything at all."

Katashi turned to leave. "I should've just ignored you." He mumbled, more irritated than frustrated. Liollmon followed him.

"So you're not goona be a tour guide." Elsa said. There was no disappointment in her voice. "Well, I guess we'll have to do the scouting on our own."

* * *

Kaito flinched a bit when he felt a palm patting on his shoulder.

He and Blue had been heading home, not directly, and was currently wandering the streets, window-shopping and simply getting lost in the chaotic noise provided by the crazy traffic there.

He didn't even have a chance to speak as he turned. A girl approximately his age was there, standing behind him in a relatively short distance, smiling. Her face seemed familiar, though Kaito could swear on his life that he'd never spoken to a woman other than his mother and teachers. The girl's flaming red hair and emerald eyes made her seem like they'd met before, even though Kaito was sure they hadn't.

"Didn't thought I'd met you twice in a day." She said. She didn't seem bothered when Kaito's face went perplex.

"Er…how can I help you?" he responded hesitantly.

"What's wrong with you?" said the girl, in a mildly annoyed fashion. "You're acting strange, Riku."

And then it suddenly made sense to Kaito.

"Are you a friend of Riku?" he asked.

"You're now referring to yourself in a third person view?" she said, giggling. Kaito could understand the cause of that. "You sure are strange."

For a moment, Kaito was lost in thoughts. The girl had clearly mistaken him as Rikuto, which made sense, but was an annoyance to duel with. He didn't even know how he should start a sentence without the girl believing that he wasn't joking. And while thinking of all that, he recalled no memories of having seen Rikuto with a girl before, which arose his curiosity. But for now, he simply couldn't speak.

"I know this is hard to believe," he started, hesitant. "But I'm not Rikuto." He 'd felt a giant weight in his chest before, ready to let his lungs go wrong and stop his supply of oxygen. But now that he's said it, he felt much lighter, with a gasp for air.

The girl didn't say anything this time. Her face intrigued as Kaito spoke.

"He might not have mentioned it to you, but I'm his brother." He said, waiting to see the girl's reaction.

A single "Oh" was all she could come up with. She lowered her head and supported her chin with one hand, thinking intensely as her eyes narrowed.

"Now that you've said it, I remember he did mention something about having a brother." She mumbled. "And, he sure had said something like not wanting your help or something like that." She said it in a low voice, but Kaito could hear her all the same.

She then turned to Blue. "No wonder Green's not green."

"My name's Blue." Said Blue politely, bowing slightly. "And Green's my brother, too."

"So…when he said 'brother', he meant a twin brother." She kept mumbling to herself before standing straight again. It was so sudden that Kaito didn't how to act as she said. "I'm so sorry to have mixed you two up. It's embarrassing!"

"You don't need to do that." Said Blue. "Kai's a nice person. Surely he won't be troubled by this misunderstanding."

The girl acted like she didn't hear him and repeated her apology for a few times before Kaito remembered something important.

"You called Rikuto 'Riku', didn't you?"

"Yes."

"He doesn't really let strangers talk to him like that." Kaito concluded. "So who are you and what's your relation with him?"

"Me? I'm Ren, Ren Hamasaki." She said.

At the mention of her name, Kaito couldn't help but let out a "What" before he even realized he was doing that. For a moment his eyes stopped blinking and he looked straightforward as though Ren was not blocking his line of sight. The girl poked him by the arm before he remembered what to say.

"He's gone." He mumbled. Ren couldn't understand that at all. "To find you."

* * *

Elsa casually walked into the top hospital in Veritro. Smith had told her to meet him, sure, but she didn't feel like it. Just a few days ago she had been just living out her peaceful and unfortunately uneventful day in Rn, where the best she could do to entertain herself was finding someone to pick on.

"Before you ask," Elsa uttered in a sudden. "I'm not here to heed that old man's call."

"I wasn't asking." Said LadyDevimon. She sounded bored. "I'm just not at all interested in patients. It's okay that they're dumber than usual, but it's the stench that I can't stand."

Elsa winked. "Good for you, then." She muttered almost to herself. "I'm not here to visit just any patient." She said lightly before stepping into an empty elevator and touched the top button.

When the doors closed noiselessly, she started again. "You're wondering why I'm here, then?"

LadyDevimon gave her a cold laugh before leaning against a wall, her arms crossed in front of her chest. "I wonder nothing."

"But you still followed me." Said Elsa. "Which means you must be intrigued by something."

LadyDevimon remained silent for the rest of the elevation. Elsa managed to do her best to stay shut up, knowing that she'd only be talking to herself if she didn't stay quiet. It was definitely not a coincident that her partner happened to share that many common traits with her. And according to her knowledge towards herself, LadyDevimon wouldn't say a word if she'd decided not to. It was good, to have nothing to hear sometimes.

When the elevator finally stopped, her first reaction was to step outside and look at the world from the top floor through a human-sized glass wall. Though the scene below was far too small to be reckoned by naked eyes, she still liked the feeling of being up high. It made her feel superior in a way that only she could understand.

The reflection of LadyDevimon was something she didn't want to see.

"I can hardly imagine you're here for the view." The Ultimate said.

"It's just a distraction." She said. There was very few –almost zero –direction signs on the floor, mainly because the floor was not to be occupied by peasants and normal patients. In fact, there was only one room on the top floor, indicated by a single metal door that didn't really match up with the white tiled walls.

Without hesitation, she approached the door.

"Smith mentioned something about a boy from the outside." She said LadyDevimon, or just to herself, as she paced slowly. "He even gave me the details before confirming my allegiance."

LadyDevimon said nothing, simply following Elsa's lead. Her expression, however, betrayed her. She was clearly intrigued by this boy from the outside as well, though she'd probably heard of people leaving beyond the city in her previous job as just a minion under Reapermon's command.

"I simply don't understand all these doors." Elsa complained as she opened the first set of doors, which led her into a barely illuminated corridor that only ended in another set of doors. She went on, pushing the doors open every time until she felt like she wasn't in a hospital, but in a maze. "Don't they get bored with these?"

"I could've easily burst them into pieces." LadyDevimon muttered.

"Another reason the doors are redundant."

Elsa expected to see another set of those dull gray walls as she absently pushed one open. The lighting there was making her sick. She'd rather be in a corridor with no lights at all than in a place where the states was between dark and illuminated. It was hurting her eyes. But when the door opened, she saw light, at last. She wouldn't admit that she was excited, which she was, as she quickened and jogged into the only patient room.

"So here you are." She mumbled as she reached to a chair behind the patient. On the bed lay a boy approximately a year older than her, unconscious. The first thing she noticed were the freckles on his tanned face, which Smith failed to mention. She leaned closer to get a better look at him.

He seemed almost dead, notwithstanding that he was breathing with a low frequency. Elsa was quite sure that she'd done the right decision ignoring Smith and into the hospital. To her, even the boy in comma seemed more interesting than reporting to Smith. She'd do that eventually, but before that, she'd do whatever she wanted.

 _Now_ _I_ _wonder what makes you so special?_

The next thing she noticed were the boy's dark eyes as he suddenly sprang alive, gasping for air.


	10. The gone boy

-The gone boy-

Before Elsa could recognize, her arm had already been gripped firmly by the boy. She tried to shake his grip lose, but that only gave her more pain as the boy tightened his grip.

With a gasp, Elsa said, "Can't you be a bit gentler towards ladies?"

But the boy didn't let her go. He stared at the ceiling without blinking, and proceeded to pull himself up, seemingly in pain. He gasped for air as he rose, leaning against the back of the bed only a few seconds after, when his grip loosened and Elsa withdrew her hand.

"Who're you?" he said, more demanding than asking. "Where am I?"

Elsa seemed a little perplex for no more than a second as she decided to stay. It was just the three of them in the room, and she could be quite sure that she wouldn't be in any danger given the protection of LadyDevimon. She leaned closer to the boy, wondering why he was shirtless instead of being wrapped in some funny patient gown.

"With the rudeness you've just performed, wouldn't be better if you apologize and identify yourself first?"

The boy said nothing. Maybe he wasn't even listening to her at all. All he was doing was tilting his head left and right, examining his surroundings as much as possible. He seemed stunned, for he hardly blinked during his scanning. He sat up straighter on the bed, shoving the thin, white blanket off he as he readied himself; probably for leaving.

"Did you not hear what I said?" demanded Elsa. This time it was her who detained the other by holding tight to his wrist, preventing him from leaving without violence.

Unfortunately the boy was violent. Within a second he'd already shaken off Elsa's grip and had set foot on the cold tile floor. He gave her a look of hatred, and then turned around towards the door, only to have his way hindered by LadyDevimon, who had been standing guard at the only door in the room.

"Don't get involved with me." He said hastily. Elsa would've said that he had a good voice if not for the fact that she was in no mood for that kind of casual talk when she was ignored.

"It is you who should avoid getting involved with us." LadyDevimon said in a plain voice that reminded Elsa for some zombie movies.

"Kudamon!" he yelled. Within seconds a white, long Digimon with a foxy head appeared, wrapping his tube-like body around the boy's neck.

LadyDevimon laughed. "You think that's gonna help you?"

"You have no idea what I'm capable of." The Rookie said. His gaze was just a dangerous as the boy's.

Nearby, Elsa stood casually, leaning herself against a wall with a few bags of vibrantly colored chemicals that seemed to be nutrient solutions. When the boy saw her, she simply shrugged and winked. "Okay, so let's just assume that you've made it out all by yourself. What's gonna happen next?" she knew she'd successfully drawn his attention when he glued his gaze upon her. "Have any idea? Cause I don't."

"It's none of your business." He said dryly, yet his dark eyes shown with desperation, which indicated his urgency to get rid of the hospital.

"Well, I guessed that much." Elsa continued, her tone uncaring. "But how do you intend to get out of here without drawing any attention?" she giggled artificially as she said that. When the boy gave her a glare that was both questioning and threatening, she said. "You really want me to tell you?"

The boy's gaze had already spoken the words for him. Seeing that, Elsa said between giggles as she covered her mouth with one hand. It was hard to tell if she made that up or if that was spontaneous. "You're only wearing a pair of briefs."

There was a moment when embarrassment appeared on his cheeks in a scarlet color, but it was short-lived. The boy didn't seem to have noticed that earlier as he examined himself. A second later, he was no longer just trying to get out, but was scanning the room around him again with clear eagerness to find something. He ignored Elsa, who seemed to be a bit astonished by the berserk on him, as he checked every single shelves in the room, pulling whatever he could find out shelf by shelf, then checked the floor under his bed, and proceeded to check every single gap between the shelves and the bed and the walls.

When Elsa started to comprehend what had just happened, the boy was standing in the middle of the room, looking beaten, mumbling, "Where's it?"

"Did any of you take anything from him?" Kudamon demanded as he approached Elsa, who seemed not at all frightened.

"No." She said before she even knew what she was saying. She considered a while before saying, "But I know someone who did."

The boy rushed towards her; she lowered the hand that she'd used to support her chin as the boy pushed her by the shoulders, pinning her against a wall.

"Want to know who that is?" she said, trying not to sound terrified.

"Tell me whatever you know!" he demanded.

"Have you forgotten LadyDevimon over there? It seemed unkind to leave her out in this matter."

He turned around, and saw LadyDevimon slowly approaching him, her face wide with a smirk. But he still wouldn't let go of Elsa.

"Maybe we can make a deal." Elsa suggested. It seemed to her that talking to this boy in the way she was used to was getting easier and easier. "What say you?"

The boy lowered his arms a bit, saying, "Your terms?"

Elsa could now push him away from her. The award distance between them was now gone. Elsa looked around, escaping his glare until she finally said, "I'll tell you everything I know, but then you have to owe me a favor."

The boy said nothing. Elsa knew it was working.

"And stop being rude to me." She finished.

"That's all?"

"Of course, notwithstanding that a lot of annoying stuff's gonna find their way to you sooner or later." She said. "But first, why don't we introduce ourselves formally?"

"So who are you?" he said in a harsh tone.

"Would you be a gentleman for once and get yourself introduced first?" said Elsa, raising her voice. "You scared me with that grab, you know."

"Alright." Said the boy. Sitting on the bed now that he couldn't do anything else. He said lowly. "My name's Kynan."

Elsa mumbled, "Strange name." Quietly before she reached up and said, "You can call me Elsa."

"So what're you gonna do now?"

"Go find that 'someone' who has what you're looking for." Before she finished saying, she'd already reached the door side, LadyDevimon joining her. It wasn't until she saw in the reflection of the door glass that Kynan was following her did she stop to say, "You stay here."

"You know I can't do that." He said harshly. "I need to monitor your every move. Can't tell if you're lying."

She gently turned, then stalked towards Kynan to force him back to the bedside and then pushed him hard, causing him to fall off balance and slam into the mattress.

"You're gonna stay here until I get you some proper clothes." She said fiercely. "I don't wanna let anyone see me walking with a half-naked guy!"

"You think I wanted to accompany you?" he argued.

"It'd be better if you didn't." Elsa said, too fast to hear. "Then I wouldn't need to keep you here with force."

Kynan rose up to get going, only to be stopped by LadyDevimon, blocking his path.

"Be a good boy and stay quiet until Elsa returns."

* * *

Rikuto decided it was time for him to leave the park. All the hopes that Ren would somehow re-visit the garden in the same day had died along with the little sunlight that could pass into Veritro. He guessed that he'd fallen asleep waiting, since it seemed that the time was really late by then.

"Com'on, Green, let's get going." He said, his voice powerless. "Maybe we should be here tomorrow for a greater chance."

Green's face was perplex, so was his mind. "Why did you insist on finding her yourself?"

"I don't know." He answered honestly. "All I could really think of was that it might be better to recruit her with someone she already knew."

The garden wasn't large, so they reached the entrance within a matter of seconds. He lingered there for a few seconds, though, as if hoping that so kind of miracle would take place and let him find Ren instantaneously.

"Are we really going?" muttered Green. The Rikuto he could see was like a statue, looking straight at the garden without any motion at all. He could only say for certain that the girl Ren had some significance to him, since he'd seemed particularly eager to be with her. Having waited for a few seconds, he pulled Rikuto by his sleeve, notifying him that they should go.

"What happened to you?" asked Green.

"I don't know." Uttered Rikuto as he turned, his eyes still possessing the tendency to look back at the garden. "I guess I was deep in thoughts. Anyway, we really should be going."

That was when he heard noises that were apparently from quick paces. Confused, he turned back to see what was happening, only to be knocked off balance by something, falling on his back. Whatever hit him wasn't doing well either, for Rikuto could feel the weight of that something being exerted on him, pinning him on the ground.

There was a moment of silence and confusion. But when he got to his senses again, he knew what'd happened. Lying on top of him was no other than Ren herself, who seemed to be equally perplexed and ignorant as she rubbed her temple with one hand before opening her eyes to notice that she'd crashed into Rikuto.

"Hi." She said softly, a sliver of embarrassment in her voice. "I heard you've been looking for me."

Rikuto could hear none of that, however. He simply groaned lightly out of the pain and uttered, "Can you get off me first?"

As if being awaken in a dream, Ren mumbled "of course" before she supported herself with her arms and lifted herself up, all the way shoving her clothes to get the dirt off. She then gave Rikuto a hand and helped him up.

"Sorry I bumped into you." She apologized lowly. "I wasn't really paying attention."

"Never mind." Said Rikuto, who was apparently lying.

"So, why'd you want to find me?"

"How'd you even know that?"

"Well," Ren started, her voice hesitant. "I mistook your brother as you earlier." She said with such speed that Rikuto could only make out some of the words. "And he told me you were looking for me."

"Right…" mumbled Rikuto, turning towards Ren before he realized that they were standing too close together. Noticing that, he stumbled a step back, so as to ease their weird distance. There was a moment when both of them said nothing, avoiding eye contact as they stared straight at the ground without a word. Eventually it was Green who ended the silence by asking, "Em…shouldn't we be going now?"

Green's voice brought both of them back to reality. Ren forced a smile as she asked, "So, why were looking for me again?"

"It's…complicated." Replied Rikuto, still avoiding eye contact. "It's basically…er…someone would like you to lend him your talent as a Tamer." It felt easier when everything was said.

"Tamer?" Ren muttered. "But I…wait." She examined Rikuto with keen eyes for seconds, making him believe that there was something wrong with him before she started talking to herself. "You're a Digi-Destiend, and I'm being asked to help as a Tamer…does that someone has something to do with you being a Digi-Destined?"

Rikuto nodded numbly.

"Well, I'd love to get involved in stuffs like that. But…" she said. Rikuto didn't even need a prophet to know her choice of words for the next line.

"I know you've something to do with your parents, but can you at least try to talk to them?"

When Ren's face became puzzled, Rikuto knew there was something wrong. Though he'd only seen her twice, she'd always seemed cheerful, too cheerful, except for the time when she talked about wanting to be a Tamer. Rikuto couldn't really get himself an excuse for trying to recruit her. He just felt a sense of obligation that he ought to be the one to find her. Irrational as it was, he could feel his heart beating faster upon the possible rejection.

"Alright, I'll try." Ren's answered was the best medicine to his beating heart. He felt like he'd suffocated earlier on. He'd never felt so nervous talking to someone before.

"Thanks." He muttered, looked away from her face, and added, "I should be going home by now." This time however, he departed far more efficient that he'd done, without looking back and with a few quick paces that he seemed to be jogging. Green needed to speed up to follow him suit.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Green when they're halfway from home. They hadn't spoken to each other on the way. "You face seems funny."

"Nothing." Rikuto replied hastily, "What could possibly be wrong with me?"

It reminded Rikuto how much Green'd grown in a few days when he said, "Is it about Ren?"

"No!" Rikuto whispered defensively. "Wait, are you…teasing me?"

Green giggled, and that was the last conversation they had before another day, with Rikuto's face always remaining pale pink.

* * *

"Told you she'd be back." Said LadyDevimon when Elsa walked into Kynan's patient room with a stocky bag on hand. Without even hesitating for a second she threw the package to Kynan and muttered, "There you go, sexy."

"It's not like I wanted to be like this." Kynan mumbled before putting on the clothes. In just a few minutes he'd changed into something Elsa commented "so much better", with a black jacket over an olive vest and a pair of dark trousers. Hurriedly, without even lining up the jacket's zip, he approached the door as Kudamon rested on his shoulders, peeking the surroundings.

"Now you owe me a favor." Said Elsa matter-of-factly.

"Not until you get me back what belongs to me." Kynan demanded, eager to escape the hospital.

"You'll have to wait." Elsa said, so uncaringly that she enraged Kynan. She simply walked towards the doors and waved her hands slightly as she said, "It's pretty late today, and I've still got a hotel room to check in." with that she was gone. She could see from the reflection on the door glasses that Kynan was not at all pleased, and might have killed her had she not been valuable to him. Still, she pretended that the tension didn't exit as she went.

* * *

It was the first time Kaoru traveled without the company of Mephistomon, at least he felt that way. He must act stealthily, since he was acting on his own –something Cyberdramon wouldn't have approved. Still, he had had an unstoppable desire to further investigate the world around him since he'd heard the name "Yuzuki"

In fact, he hadn't been totally honest to Cyberdramon, whom he obeyed very much. Everything had changed since he'd heard that name. It kept repeating in his mind, flashing with unrecognizable blurs during his sleep. He knew there was something wrong –some certain connections –between him and Yuzuki, though he'd no idea to whom that name was referring. He just knew that he needed to get this settled before he could get back to his old self and follow Cyberdramon's orders without questions. Somehow, he felt a sense of guilt weighting him down, making his heart felt heavy. Was it the feeling of betraying someone who'd been taking care of him?

The scene in front of him looked foreign. He knew this place –Rn –that kept showing up in his dreams. There really was not much to see besides blocks of buildings that were densely packed together. It reminded him of a village he'd visited in the Digital World, where most of the constructions were made of stone pillars instead of concrete.

The buildings reddened moments after his arrival. He looked up, and saw the sun descending from the horizon. It reminded him of the day he started having memories, when Cyberdramon had discovered him in a mess of debris. The sun –the one in the Digital World –had been just as beautiful as the one he was looking at. The guilt intensified as he watched, remembering how he shouldn't have acted disobediently.

 _I_ _'_ _ve taken a step forward. I can_ _'_ _t back off now._ He tried to convince himself. He took a few steps towards the forest of concrete. It was silent, with faintly audible noises from vehicles and people chatting. He was still at the outskirt of the city, so there wasn't much for him to notice, until several minutes later, when he'd gotten into the main districts in the city. There he saw people –lots of people –rushing back and forth between buildings and alleys, all wearing business suits or formally styled clothing.

He didn't care about those at all. He'd come to here to see if he could remember something, but that really wasn't working well. Within minutes of wandering he found himself in a park, alone, with nothing but blossoming flowers that were stained orange by the sunset.

Would he ever be able to get his past back? He wondered. Cyberdramon had suggested few evidences that were related to his past live, and wouldn't say much either, being in the dark corners as well (As Cyberdramon had claimed.) he sat on a bench, staring aimlessly at the children's playing facilities which were left with severely scratched paint coats and rust. He was alone, and he didn't know if that was a good thing. He remembered only since Cyberdramon had started to take care of him, believing that everything the Digimon said was meant to help him, but now he wondered. Why had he even been in the Digital World, when no one had been there?

He scratched his head as his thought intensified. There was just so much to comprehend, and he simply couldn't handle a thing on his own. Sighing, he closed his eyes for a moment, reminding himself that he was doing something he didn't need to. He could simply return to Cyberdramon, pretend that nothing ever happened, and continue to be his assistant, and live his life.

That was when he noticed a shaped around the trees, a human's shape. It didn't get his attention at first, simply looking like a generic girl. But when he looked closer into her features, he noticed, that the girl's long, straight black hair, brown coat, and silver necklace, met all the distinctive features that Cyberdramon had given him about an extremely dangerous target, the one he'd tried to get rid of back when he'd raided the train station.

Deciding that it could've just been a simple coincident, he followed her. It was easy to track a target without being noticed, especially when you were doing this in an area filled with trees. The trunks basically helped him hide.

As time flew, he got closer to the girl. He was now just a few tens meters away from her, and he could tell that she was the dangerous person that ought to be killed. Cyberdramon had never really given him a proper reason as to the threat the girl posted, but he had never questioned.

She occasionally looked back, but he'd hidden well that she could never find him. Approaching closer, he felt that it was becoming easier. Maybe he could simply eliminate her and get the credit, or maybe he could capture her alive to Cyberdramon, and hopefully have something spoken out of her.

But then he got a hit on the back of his head. Falling, he felt his vision going blurry before he hit the ground. The pain of hitting the ground was, however, not as great as that impact that made him feel like his skull had been cracked open. Now all he could see were color patches overleaping one another, and then a specifically black shape replaced all the colors, with a single call.

"Kaoru?"

* * *

When he could see again, he found himself seated on the grassland, leaning against a tree. In front of him was the girl, looking slightly concerned. It didn't make any sense, not to him, at least. He had been sure that he might get killed if he got into affairs with her, that's how dangerous Cyberdramon had described about her. But instead, there was a faint trace of joy on her face, with a subtle smile.

"Kaoru?" she said again, as she approached the boy, only to be stopped by a white-armored Digimon.

"Don't be risky." The Digimon –Jesmon, as Kaoru reckoned –said. The girl took a step back, but her eyes were lingering on him.

"Why are you here?" she asked again.

Kaoru didn't answer, simply taking a step back. It confused him, that the girl's face seemed simultaneously familiar and foreign. He could only do as much as to escape now that Mephistomon wasn't with him.

The girl stepped forward. "You really don't remember me, Kaoru?"

"Who are you?" he demanded directly. "And who is that Kaoru?"

"It's you!" said the girl, "Kaoru, that's your name!"

He stumbled a step back, keeping their distance. "I don't have a name." Kaoru said firmly. "And I don't remember you, except that you're too dangerous to live!"

The girl's face became perplex, her eyes purely inquisitive. "What?" she took a step forward, insisting on approaching Kaoru, only to be interfered by Jesmon, who stepped in between them.

"Be careful, Yuzuki." He whispered. "He's the one that raided the train station."

"I know!" Yuzuki uttered, almost in a yell. "But he's Kaoru!"

When she turned her attention back to Kaoru, however, he was the one with questions written on his face. He made his first step forward, slowly approaching Yuzuki while still hesitating, stopping in between steps. "Yuzuki?" he muttered. "You know that name?"

Yuzuki's mouth couldn't be more wide open. There was a second or two when she couldn't even think of something to say. The boy in front of her was clearly Kaoru, except his hair was a bit longer and more layered, and that he wasn't wearing a scarf. There was a moment of joy to hear that Kaoru really remembered the name Yuzuki, she could be certain, yet the pain of watching him spell out the name without recognizing she was the one. He seemed so close and so distant.

"You don't remember?" she asked, more mumbling than questioning.

"Tell me what you know!" Kaoru snarled, taking a step further forward. "Why does that name keep appearing in my mind?"

Yuzuki's face could not appear sadder. She was the one to take a step back this time, her lips motioning but could form any words. There was a simple horror in her eyes; Kaoru could see that. What troubled him was that the girl he saw didn't seem to fit Cyberdramon's description at all. Still, with a thirst to reacquire whatever linked to his past, he demanded again. "Tell me!"

"Stop it!" Jesmon said, stepping in between the two. "Don't push her that hard."

Yuzuki stepped up, her eyes avoiding Kaoru's. "It's fine, Jesmon." She muttered, sucking in a deep breath. Raising her head slightly, she could recognize Kaoru's face in her peripheral vision, just enough so that she could talk without much stress.

"It's me." She said lowly, not even knowing if Kaoru could hear her. "I am Yuzuki."

Kaoru would've said something, but couldn't. Before he knew it his jaws dropped as he stumbled backwards, eyes fixed on Yuzuki for a whole minute without blinking. He could only be stopped when he hit the tree behind him. "What?" he muttered. "It's…it can't be!"

Yuzuki's eyes seemed to have enlarged due to the tiny drops of tears accumulating at her eyelids. Suddenly the air felt heavy for the both of them, as if an incredible weight was exerted on their chests. They walked towards one another after a few seconds, moving so slowly as if the ground was filled with mines.

"It can't be." Kaoru mumbled. "Why, why would I know you?"

"You might not remember much, but I'm telling the truth." Yuzuki said. "You're the most important person I've ever met." Jesmon kept an eye on the entire conversation feared if anything would go wrong and endanger his partner, but he didn't interfere. He knew too well about Yuzuki, and believed that meeting Kaoru would be the only way she could ever get rid of her depression.

"Then why, why can't I remember if you're so important to me?" Kaoru started, his voice trembling.

"It must have been hard for you, to not remember anything." Yuzuki approached him. Hesitantly she reached out a hand, resting it on Kaoru's shoulder to pull him closer. She behaved as though the attack on the train station had never happened and that the Kaoru in front of her was the same boy she'd known instead of someone who'd tried to have her killed. She could see the pain in Kaoru's eyes; she knew he was, too, struggling to get things comprehended.

Kaoru sat down slowly, followed by Yuzuki. He leaned against the tree, eyes glued to Yuzuki's. It was simply impossible for him to even get a word said, but still he said between gasps, "But you…you're dangerous."

"What?"

"You're too dangerous to live, along with four others." He said. "That's what he told me, that I should eliminate you at first opportunity."

"Who told you that?" Yuzuki asked. It was the first time she'd spoken naturally since the conversation had begun.

Kaoru blinked, sucked in a deep breath and reached out a hand. He was actually getting close to Yuzuki, the one person he should consider enemy. Yet, there was a voice inside him that told him to do so, to embrace the girl before him, and he listened to that part of himself. Yuzuki held Kaoru's arms, pulling him closer. Strangely, he wasn't afraid at all, but rather, he felt safe, safer than he'd ever been.

Then he spoke. "Cyberdramon."


	11. The outside world

-The outside world-

Katashi was starting to get annoyed by all those stuff to do with Smith. It had only been the beginning of the summer holiday, and already so much had happened. He didn't know if he could even live a normal life after all this. Liollmon could sense his frustration and fatigue. Being constantly called by Smith really wasn't the nicest way to spend a holiday.

When he reached Smith's office, he saw that the twins were there as well, their expressions equally annoyed.

"What is it this time?" mumbled Katashi as he walked towards them. It all seemed redundant to him. The most that had happened was a boy coming from the outside world and Kaoru being alive again, and already they'd had more than enough meetings to actually come up with something to duel with the issues.

"Maybe you can understand now why I hate him that much." Kaito told him as he came closer.

"I know." Said Katashi plainly. He simply didn't know what to say. _At least he didn_ _'_ _t start by picking up a fight._

"Anyone knows why we're here, again?" asked Rikuto as he approached the two. Green followed him and asked the same question.

Katashi shook his head numbly, sighing. "I wish I could know." He couldn't even think of a way to get the conversation to somewhere that did not involve Smith or Digimon. "Let's just get this over with quick." He said.

That was when something fresh occurred. He noticed Rikuto have a little quiver, as a hand appeared from behind his shoulder, along with a light, cheery voice. "Didn't expect me here, Riku?"

Rikuto turned around immediately, saying before his eyes could even capture the image of whoever was behind him. "Ren?"

Ren stepped back a little when Rikuto faced her, smiling. "It's good to see you here." She said. Katashi, watching on the side, was wondering if he'd seen Ren before. It took him seconds to recognize that Ren was the one Smith had recommended them to recruit, a day before. Still confused, he asked Kaito, "What did you do to make her here this soon?"

Kaito simply shrugged, looking at Rikuto. Blue helped him say, "It's Riku who did the job."

In the meantime, Rikuto and Ren were acting like they'd been friends for a while, chatting so naturally that Green considered himself wrong about something happening between Rikuto and Ren earlier. They seemed plainly like friends, nothing more.

"How'd you know to get here?" asked Rikuto. "I'm quite sure you didn't get that spam mail."

"What mail?" Valkyrimon, who'd been by Ren's side, asked.

Rikuto took out his phone and showed Ren the overly long and redundant email he'd gotten earlier that morning, sent by Smith. The email could be concluded with three words: come at once.

Ren seemed to be confused as well. She looked at the mail cautiously, possibly considering the meaning in those lines, but was just as perplexed when she turned her sight on other things as she'd been. "I didn't get that mail." She commented, taking her phone out. "But I did get this." She said, holding the phone out so that Rikuto could see clearly. It was composed of just few lines, and was sent by the Institute –the one Ren would've been studying in if not for her parents.

"And how did that lead you here?" he asked.

"You know who's the greatest shareholder in the Institute?" said Ren lightly. Rikuto, not having had enough attention towards the loosely named facility, which was more a school than an Institute, couldn't think of even a viable theory. Green, who'd been quiet by his side, poked him lightly in the waist, beckoning towards Katashi, whom Rikuto recognized has the most knowledge about the Institute. He turned towards him, ready to ask him for advices.

But Ren didn't let him the time to do so. She clutched Rikuto by his sleeve, pulling him towards her. When their faces were met again, she smiled and saw Rikuto's face glowing a little pink.

"Can you stop pulling me like that?" he whispered.

"Oh c'mon, you're a boy!" she almost shouted that, before she realized that she shouldn't bring more embarrassment to Rikuto. So instead she whispered. "And," she said after that, tapping something on her phone for a few seconds before she passed the phone to Rikuto.

And then his face froze, for at least twenty seconds or more, his jaws dropping slowly. The picture depicted a middle-aged man with combed, slick black hair and a pair of red eyes so piercing that he looked almost like a character straight out of a horror film. But Rikuto didn't feel that way. He'd seen this face before, and he hated it.

But Ren didn't notice that. Instead, she simply skipped to the answer of the question. She was enjoying herself, not bothering to have a look on Rikuto's expression as she said, "He's called Edward Smith, and he was practically the founder of the Institute." She pointed at the building next to her. "And this is where his office is located. In the letter, they told me that they were in need of Tamer for something vital that they couldn't tell in the mail. They called me to be here, so here I am." She finally turned her gaze upon Rikuto, who was simply standing there, his eyes blank.

"What's the matter with you?" she asked, patting him on the shoulder.

Rikuto would've answered her, that the very person she'd just mentioned happened to be one of his most hated. But his attention was shifted away when two new faces appeared from a street diagonally opposite to Smith's office. Katashi's face turned down the moment he saw one of them. Though unwilling, he was the one to first approach her.

"Why're you here, Elsa?" he asked, demanding in tone.

"Because I'm pretty much the reason all of you're here." She answered pleasantly, taking a quick glimpse at the crowd. Had she the chance to say it, she'd say that there were "too many boys", but she couldn't. Before she could say another word, Katashi gave her a dissatisfied look and once again demanded, "You won't be just end up wandering in the streets in a normal day. You said that Smith somehow wanted you here, but for what reason?"

She simply smirked in return, not even bothering to answer.

And then, before anyone could announce their observation of the boy standing beside her, he walked up and said lightly, "Shall we get to the serious stuff now?"

All eyes fell upon him. "Who're you?" Kaito questioned, approaching the boy.

Katashi, who was standing near Kaito, stopped him by holding out an arm. He didn't need another close examination to tell that the boy was the one he'd rescued, the one that had caused all those troubles lately. He didn't blame him, but he was wondering if things would've turned out differently had he not appeared. He stepped forth, holding a hand out. A smile shaped itself on his face; he was, after all, just another boy like him, so there was no reason for him to treat him harshly.

"Hi, I'm…" he couldn't even finish the introduction as the boy walked past him, apparently in a hurry.

"I'm here to get back what belongs to me." He uttered, more to himself than to Katashi.

Katashi gave a questioning look at Elsa. Something must have happened between the two of them, he knew. Things were just more incomprehensible now that communication seemed farther apart between each member of this supposed team. Elsa, as usual, just shrugged in return.

Katashi glared at her more fiercely before she talked. "His name's Kynan." She said, eyeing the boy in black jacket. "And, as you can see, he's not a nice guy."

Katashi approached Elsa, apparently annoyed by her indifference towards whatever was happening, only to hear a voice from behind that got all his attention. He turned, and there stood Smith, right in front of the door of his office.

"I should say that you exceed my expectation." He commented, eyes settling on Ren and the twins. "So, should we get going now?"

* * *

"I don't have anything to say until you give it back to me." Kynan said with audible rage. He hadn't even gotten a sit in the overly large meeting room, his palms having slammed against the light gray table. His eyes narrowed, staring straight towards Elsa.

"I just told you about the one having what you want, but I didn't promise you to have it back." she argued, in an inappropriately casual tone as she turned her gaze towards Smith. "He's the one you have to threaten, not me."

Smith walked close to a screen hung on a wall as Kynan turned his gaze towards him. There wasn't even a moment of flinching on Smith, Katashi noticed. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying himself, though his face remained as placid as ever. "That is not a problem." Smith said plainly as he gestured to Kynan to tell him to have a seat. When he saw that Kynan was being uncooperative, he walked towards one end of the room and examined a small cupboard and took something out of it.

With an invisible smirk, he held out his hand and handed Kynan the very object he'd been demanding for, the peculiar device that he'd carried with him when all others had first noticed his existence.

For a moment Kynan was motionless, not sure what to do. Silence followed for the next few seconds before he said, "Thanks."

"We haven't needed it since the techs has made several copies of this." Said Smith solemnly.

Kynan's calmness was short lived. "What?" he yelled, almost in a snarl.

"That should not be unexpected." Stated Smith.

"I didn't come all the way here so it could be copied and spread around!" Kynan said.

"Perhaps you should've told us back then." Said Smith. He and Kynan had now dominated the entire discussion, leaving no space for the others to join in. It seemed to them that they were simply there to watch a play. "Because we have already extracted everything out of it."

"That doesn't give you the right to use it for your own benefit."

"You seem to have misunderstood me, I am afraid." Smith said politely –so polite on this verbal fight that he sounded terrifying. It was one of his talents to shut others up, though Kynan didn't. Instead, he just stood up and slammed his palms on the desk again, like he'd done when he'd first arrived.

"What's inside there is not to be read, by anyone!" he uttered.

"Maybe you should explain the reason you kept it, then."

For a moment Kynan's wrath seemed to have subsided. He didn't speak for a long time –probably a couple of minutes –before he got back to his seat again, his eyes on the desk. Kudamon, who'd been with him and had remained silent, said, "There is something that should never be reminded of." He stretched a little outwards and moved from Kynan's shoulder to the desk, looking him in the eyes. "You don't have to tell them if you don't want to." He whispered.

Kynan stared at him for a couple of seconds, and then raised his head again. "It's alright." He whispered with a few quick breaths. "I need to say it."

He then faced the group again, trying to avoid eye contact with Smith. "I have to start it from the beginning."

"The beginning?" muttered Liollmon. "You mean, when you're outside?"

Kynan nodded.

"We never knew that there're still humans living outside of Ventrium." Katashi added.

"Would you stay quiet so that I can finish it quickly?" Kynan muttered, giving a sharp look towards Katashi, whose head lowered a bit to acknowledge his apology.

"I used to live in a village." He continued. "Ava, it was called. We never knew that there were something –someone –living outside of the village, and we dared not explore the surroundings, since it's surrounded by barren land and Digimon, lots of them. We didn't have any trouble living, though."

"So what happened?" Katashi once again found himself embarrassing, having interrupted Kynan again.

"That was until about a year ago." He said, his eyes glistening with tiny teardrops. "Digimon –big, red and bulky –just showed up from nowhere, and started to kill everyone in sight." He paused, choking. "I'm the only one who escaped."

Before any words of sympathy could be pronounced, Smith said, "I don't see how that's related to the map."

"The map…" said Kudamon, so quietly that it was barely audible. "You have no idea what it is."

"Then tell us, instead of sobbing there."

"The map," Kynan started again. "It is kept safe for generations, my family. I was only told the importance of it."

"What is it then?"

"It tells the location as to where the virus was kept hidden." Said Kynan. "I was told that there was a devastating war years and years ago, which resulted in the barren landscape and the few population. My father once told me that it was the virus that ended the war. And because it's so dangerous it was kept hidden since then."

" _That_ virus?" muttered Ren automatically.

Kynan nodded. "It is passed from generation to generation, at least in my family." His voice started to get clear again as he suck in several deep breathes. "My father gave it to me, right before he died in front of me."

There was silence all over the room. Being the most factual person in the room, Smith said again, "They should've destroyed it if it really is that dangerous, and so should you."

"I don't care why they didn't do it!" Kynan yelled, his hands shivering. "This is the last thing my father gave me, and I can't just burst it into pieces!"

"But how did you end up here?" asked Kaito. "You said you thought you were the only ones out there."

"Because of me." Kudamon said, swiftly moving towards the center of the table such that everyone could hear him. "I suggested that we go here."

As Kudamon straightened his overly long body, Katashi could see it –a simple, circular tattoo that he'd seen on Leomon when Liollmon had been a lost exile on the streets, the very day Katashi had taken the responsibility to take care of the Digi-egg that had been formed by the Leomon. Kudamon must have come from Ventrium, he had no doubt.

Kudamon eyed Kynan, who nodded in agreement. "The first time I met Kynan, he was running away from some more aggressive Digimon out there. I saved him."

"And then," Kynan continued for Kudamon. "He kept sticking around with me. I'd been alone for five months, and was not sure how to react, so I let him join me. I also persuaded him that we should go take a look at the location where the virus is hidden, a village called _Destiny_ , if I remember correctly."

"You've been there before?" Ren uttered with both excitement and astonishment.

Kynan shook his head slightly, muttering, "No; we didn't"

"The village is surrounded by mountains –really high ones." Kudamon added.

Katashi asked, "Then what drove you here? Surely you wouldn't be out there for that long if you'd only followed a path here."

"Going here was my idea." Kudamon replied. "The day we got attacked."

"Surely you got attacked a lot, living out there for that long." Elsa added.

Kudamon gave her a menacing glare, but she ignored it. "It was the first time I –we –have seen a Digimon out there that wasn't purely attacking to survive. That one Digimon was different, I knew, and he looked weird enough as well, having a glowing purple head."

The mention alerted Katashi at once. He was, however, not the only one with that observing ability. Before he could say anything, Blue shouted out, "Was that the one we faced at the Wall?"

"Did he, by any chance, say his name?" Katashi asked quickly, so eager that his torso actually leaned towards where Kynan was sitting.

"He did. That's one of the things that made him different than the others."

"And the name is?"

"Cyberdramon."

* * *

Kaoru asked Cyberdramon, slightly unwillingly, about the experience he'd had with Yuzuki a day before. So much had changed since then. He couldn't possibly link the name that had such an impact on his mind with the very person Cyberdramon had warned him about.

"I want to ask something about Yuzuki." He said lightly. "Who is she actually?"

"I told you I had no idea." Replied the Digimon, his voice light but creepy.

"But I saw her yesterday," Kaoru continued, "And she's the one you wanted me to kill." He paused, sucking in a deep breath while avoiding eye contact with Cyberdramon. "Have you been hiding something from me?"

Cyberdramon was surprisingly honest, answering before Kaoru had even finished his line. "Yes indeed."

"Why?"

"I will have to show you." Cyberdramon replied calmly, ignoring the eagerness Kaoru was showing. He paced slowly towards a computer, and clicked a few buttons, which made loud cracking sounds, before showing something on the screen.

For a moment Kaoru couldn't recognize the places shown in all those photos; they were too blurry and low quality and, to be honest, messy. He could be certain that those photos were taken in a hurry, since they depicted unsteady movements and out-of-focus objects. One common trait he discovered was that the color scheme of the photos all tended to be orangey, like a piece of glass had been covering the camera while the photos had been taken. Upon further examination he figured out that the blurry objects were mostly buildings, primitive or not, and they were collapsing, being torn into pieces. And then he understood, that the orange shade had been caused by fire.

"What are these?" he mumbled, eyes fixed on the pictures. "And what do they have to do with me?"

"Observe." Answered Cyberdramon, magnifying one of the many photos. All Kaoru could see was shapes, something that could only have been covered by the strong flickers of fire in the photo. He focused more, trying to figure out whatever Cyberdramon had wanted him to find, but he could at most said that those shapes, silhouetted by the flame, looked not unlike human beings.

And then Cyberdramon switched the screen to another photo, equally disturbed by intense light. Again, Kaoru could at most make out shapes. Cyberdramon then gave him another. This time, however, he could tell more than just shapes. The images of the humanoid silhouettes were sharper, more focused, precise. That was when he recognized one of the faces of those humans –the very girl he'd seen just a day before, Yuzuki.

"What does that mean?" he questioned. "What does that have to do with me?"

Cyberdramon looked rather pleasant, if he could show any emotions on his face. Unhurriedly he turned off the screens, so that Kaoru could focus on him. "There are much more of these kind of records." He said, in a mechanical voice that sounded plain and cold. "What do all those have in common?" before Kaoru could even move his lips, Cyberdramon murmured almost to himself. "They were there, every time."

"They?"

"The people I warned you about." Cyberdramon continued. "Every time a village was burnt down, a factory was blown, or something of that sort of nature, they were all there."

"So?"

"They were the cause of those misfortunes." Uttered Cyberdramon coldly, the lights on his head flickering, as though indicating that he was deep in thoughts. "There were six of them. Twelve, including their respective partner."

"But you only told me about five."

"That's the point." Cyberdramon said, slowly and grimy, such that his already haunting voice sounded more alerting, as if anything could happen after his words. He made a pause long enough to get Kaoru fully focused on him. And then, when he could see that Kaoru's curiosity had reached maximum, as though his eyes were trying to jump out of the sockets just to see an answer, he said, "You were one of them."

Instead of screaming in utter shock or panicking, Kaoru stood rigidly still, not even blinking. For a moment he was immobilized, and could not move even if he wanted to. To him, everything felt so distant as soon as he'd heard what Cyberdramon'd just said minutes, as if he was the only one standing in the middle of nothingness. He didn't even know how to feel.

A few seconds later, when his mind was a bit clearer and his thoughts organized, he uttered, "I was…one of them?"

"It cannot be more true." Cyberdramon commented, sounding dull and emotionless.

"But…but that can't prove anything." Kaoru said between breathes. Just the information of that made him feel like he was suffocating. "That doesn't mean anything."

"It does, of course." Said Cyberdramon matter-of-factly. "It is more than enough to deduce that they were the causes of the various destruction that had been brought about in the Digital World."

Kaoru didn't even feel like standing anymore, his legs trembling. "And I was…then why did you save me instead of just…" he found it hard to spit the word out. "Just kill me?"

For an extended period Cyberdramon maintained silent. Though he'd only been with him for less than a year, Kaoru knew that was not a good phenomenon to begin with. He'd always been asking about his past, and as he'd just realized, Cyberdramon hadn't been truthful to him. Yet, Cyberdramon had never hesitated to answer his questions, even if he'd been lying.

"You were alone." Said Cyberdramon coldly. "You were alone, in the middle of a ruin, and had no memory at all. I just did what I needed to do." Even in his flat voice, Kaoru felt a sense of humanity in it. "I just gathered all the information after having saved you. In other words, I saved you before I knew that I shouldn't."

Kaoru found himself in a loss of words. He simply didn't know whom to trust. Yuzuki had sounded just like Cyberdramon, filled with compassion. And the both of them had never shown him any hostile gesture: Cyberdramon had been taking care of him, giving him Mephistomon as a Digimon partner; Yuzuki had hesitated in the fight between them, and had shown mercy when she could've easily finished him off. And both of them held completely different versions of his past, with Cyberdramon going for Yuzuki being evil and Yuzuki insisting on the reverse.

"I…" he mumbled, starting to feel dizziness in his head. He couldn't even stand, sitting on the ground. "I…I can't…"

"There is no need to rush." Said Cyberdramon lightly, almost in a whisper. "Just remember one fact: you were amnesiac, and they weren't there." Even with no eyes, his visor biped with flashes of lilac, as if he was having a secret smirk on the inside. "They abandoned you; the left you to die with no regret."

Kaoru stopped feeling the heaviness in his head. Cyberdramon was right. He'd been there, not them. The truth seemed much simpler. They left him behind, and Cyberdramon didn't.

"I suppose you've overcome your doubts?"

"Yes, sir." Said Kaoru lightly and obediently.

"Then be prepared. You and Mephistomon still have a job to do/"

"Where do I go, then?" he asked.

"The very person who confused you." Answered Cyberdramon. "Yuzuki."

* * *

"So, you want us to go out there because he happened to have come across Cyberdramon?" Katashi uttered in surprise. "But he's stated that there is literally no point in getting there!'

Smith, as he'd always been, ignored him and said, "You have no idea how important it is."

" _You_ have no idea!" Kynan yelled. "You know that, too! Let the virus remain hidden is the best way to handle it."

"Even if that means letting it fall into wrong hands?"

"I don't get it." Ren uttered. She hadn't engaged in the conversation much, but she felt like it was her responsibility to help the Digi-Destined make the most sensible choice.

"I thought you'd love something like that." Muttered Elsa, looking around uncaringly. "You looked like the adventurous type."

"And you?" Rukuto asked. "You didn't even have a reason to be here."

"Well of course I do." She answered bluntly, giving him a random glare. "You're in a shortage of hands, so Smith called me here."

"And we find this less boring than everyday routines." LadyDevimon added.

"Did none of you hear what I said?" Kynan shouted. "There is no point in getting to somewhere that is unreachable."

"Not to Cyberdramon, if it really were him you came across." Said Smith. "I have never seen him, but the description given to me was enough. He is a threat not to be underestimated."

"But the data's here with us." Kudamon added.

"Not anymore." Katashi interrupted the conversation, his expression unreadable, as though he was reading something transparent in front of him, his eyes wide with fear and shock, "You said the techs had copied the data, right?"

"Shit!" uttered Smith. For the first time he seemed to have lost control, his face giving out a typical look of astonishment.

"What is it?" asked Blue.

"If there is multiple copies of the map," Katashi started again, "Anybody could get it single-handedly, especially for someone as smart as Cyberdramon."

"If he had access to our database."

"Have you not listened to what Takumi told us?" Katashi yelled back, too preoccupied that he forgot to mind his manners. "The guy could bring the dead alive again, in some zombie-like ways, could design a workable teleportation system and an army of killing machines just by studying Millenniummon. What makes you think that he couldn't have accessed to our database already?"

"So what're we gonna do?" Kaito demanded. "That doesn't have anything to do with us."

"I believe that all these are linked." Liollmon announced. "Remember the time when we met Cyberdramon at the Wall? I think he knows about these."

"So what?"

"So, as a Digi-Destined, you're obliged to stop him!"

Before Kaito could even think of another word to say, Ren shouted. "Enough, you two!" She then cleared her voice and said, "We need a plan, not arguments."

"Fortunately we have a guide here." Said Elsa, turning to face Kynan. "Say hello!"

"What do you want from me?" he retorted immediately. "And why should I listen to you?"

"Because, sexy," she whispered in his ear. "You owe me a favor."


	12. Before the departure

-Before the Departure-

Everyone turned their attention towards Elsa, who looked tremendously pleasant that it seemed the threat of Cyberdramon was nothing. She simply smirked as a response.

"I can't, even if I wanted to." Kynan said. "I told you; there's no way to get there on foot, not without at least a year's time."

"Haven't you just mentioned something about teleportation?" Elsa turned to face Katashi, whose expression had grown from simple concern to a mix of worries and impatience.

"I did say that." He answered hesitantly.

"So, we'd have no problem reaching there within a second."

"Not exactly." Smith interrupted. "The teleportation we managed to develop has yet to be fully functional, not to mention that we don't have the precise coordination. It would simply be too risky."

"We have coordination." Kudamon added.

"Then you'll have to face another problem." Smith uttered. He seemed weary, unlike himself a couple of minutes ago. It was as though he the news of Cyberdramon possibly stolen their information had killed half his spirit.

"What is it?" Rikuto asked. "We've used it to sneak into the Digital World, and that was fine."

"Because there is another system in the Digital World, waiting to be used." The man answered, frustration clearly shown in his voice. "But we don't know if wherever the map indicates has one."

"So what do we do?" Liollmon demanded. "Just sit here and think of how to improve our techs?"

There was no silence this time. The room had erupted into a squall of words; the air filled with redundant vibrations that everything sounded distant, like countless mosquitoes were buzzing around. Evidently none of them considered stopping. The only one who had not spoken a word was Valkyrimon, who was standing by the door side with her arms crossed, waiting.

And then the loud, almost deafening thump came, successfully attracting everyone's attention. The source of the voice, as they turned and discovered, was Kudamon, who seemed to have slammed the desk quite fiercely that it made him look tiny no more.

When everything went still, he started. "I know a way to get there, but I can help you if you don't cooperate."

"What do you suggest we do, then?" questioned Kaito.

"The Digital World," Said Kudamon calmly, "can act as a bridge."

"What'd you mean by that?" uttered Elsa immediately before she could even think. But then another equally surprising and unexpected voice boomed from behind her.

"That could actually work!" it was Katashi.

"I still have no idea what you're talking about." Liollmon joined in the conversation.

"That place is surrounded by mountains, isn't it?" Katashi started his explanation. He didn't expect the others to understand him, since he's not really good at instructive speeches, but he couldn't help but wonder he was the only one who got the idea. "If we get into the Digital World before we reach the mountains, and if the Digital World just happens to have no obstacle there, we can actually slip past those mountains in a few days, maybe."

"I still don't know why you sound so excited." Said Blue. "We can't use the teleport, can we?"

"You can get into the Digital World, that's for sure." Smith explained.

"And then what?"

"Once you're in there, you can get the equipment there. And by tracking the location of the equipment there, which would be your location, we can monitor the teleportation in the Human World, and bring you back, skipping all those mountains."

"But I still don't see how it could work." Valkyrimon added. "You said we need two of them –one in our hands and the other one in our desired location."

"You don't, actually." Katashi said. "Though I've only been to the Digital World once, I heard that the system there was far more advanced, which means, you can practically go to anywhere if you know your destination. That's how the attack took place last year, at least that's the most logical reason I've heard of."

They stopped for a moment of consideration, and then Elsa broke the silence. "So, we're going or not?"

Kynan gave her a glare before saying, "We shouldn't be going."

"Cyberdramon might be one his way." Katashi said, trying to act calm despite his trembling voice. "And we don't know what he might do with the virus. The only way to be sure is to get there before he does, and then destroy the virus once and for all. I don't see any way other than this."

Kynan stopped, looked at him in the eyes, and said, "Alright, then." And then he turned and started to leave; Kudamon jumping back onto his shoulder, wrapping himself round his neck like a scarf.

"Wait a minute!" Ren shouted, successfully stopping Kynan from leaving. "When do we go, then?"

"We don't have much time to spear." Said Smith, returning into his cold voice. "I hope, with the greatest optimistic assumption, that you can depart by the end of the week."

"I'm fine." Katashi replied instantly.

The twins looked at each other for several seconds, then at their respective DIgimon partners, and then nodded.

"I'm fine, too." Said Ren, quite eagerly. "That's why you called me here, right?"

"I've already agreed to do anything just by showing up, I guess." Muttered Elsa uncaringly. She then, too, started to leave.

"Then it's decided." Smith announced.

* * *

When almost everyone had left the room, Rikuto approached Ren and Valkyrimon.

"I didn't know I'd get you into something like this." He said, his voice apologetic.

"Don't say that." The girl answered with her typical smile. "I have wanted something like this for a long time, and last time I was closest to these kinds of adventures was the time I met Valkyrimon at school. She wasn't really Valkyrimon back then, but you know what I mean." She poked Rikuto in the shoulder, which made his face tense a little. "Don't keep your brother waiting," she said, eyeing the direction at which Kaito and the two Dracomon stood.

"He wouldn't be jealous on you." Rikuto muttered.

"You should go anyway."

"Yeah." He signed, walking towards the doors slowly. "See you in three days."

"You sure you don't need another minute with her?" That was the first thing Kaito said.

Rikuto immediately turned his face around, avoiding eye contact. He would admit that his mind was still in the middle of a conversation with Ren, who didn't seem to take their friendship too seriously. That, however, was not the case, at least not to Rikuto. She was practically the first friend he had excluding Kaito and the Dracomon, who were more of a family to him. However, he just said, "Not really."

Kaito giggled –something Rikuto didn't see often. "C'mon, I'm not blind!" he whispered, tilting his head close to Rikuto's so that only he could hear him. "Now might be your best shot in getting a date."

Rikuto felt an urge to turn his back on Kaito. The two Dracomon giggled, seemingly understanding what Kaito had just told him even though they hadn't heard it clearly. Rikuto couldn't believe it. His brother, the new digital members in their family, was teasing him. Though it wasn't to the point of humiliation, he still felt an urge to escape, to somewhere nobody really knew him.

But before he could do that, Kaito spoke again. "We're leaving early." He placed one hand on Rikuto's left cheek, getting his head to face him despite the obvious distaste on Rikuto's expression. "And, well, I have something to do in private, so don't follow me." He was already on the move, leaving Rikuto no chance to argue.

Ren, who apparently saw that happen, approached Rikuto and talked to him, sounding confused. "Why didn't you go with them?"

Rikuto didn't really notice her presence until he heard her voice. When he turned, he saw Ren standing there, alone, with curiosity-filled eyes.

"Where's Valkyrimon?" he asked, though he already could tell the answer.

"She said she wanted to go first." Ren replied. "And so she did."  
That intensified the awkwardness in the room. Rikuto felt his heart thump faster and faster, unlike any he'd felt before. Even when facing potential bullies, he could still always keep calm and collected. But it was different. It felt as though the already large room wasn't large enough, like the room was shrinking, making him and Ren closer and closer. Somehow it reminded him of sneaking into the Temple, right before everything had started. The nervousness was getting the better of him.

"It's kind of odd, isn't it?" he mumbled. "I just said goodbye to you and now we're talking again."

Ren nodded, but said nothing.

"Well…" Rikuto didn't even know how to start a sentence, not anymore. He felt like he was suffocating, as if every word in his mind was trying to choke him. His face must have been brushing, though he couldn't see it for himself. He'd never felt so anxious talking to a living person.

"You all right?" Ren asked. Apparently she'd noticed his face flushing.

"Of course I am." Even getting those four words out seemed like an impossible mission for a moment. But since he'd started the conversation, he decided that it would be a waste to just remain silent and shy. Kaito'd been right; there's definitely something he felt towards Ren that made him nervous. Recalling as hard as he could on any TV shows that involved this kind of uneasy situations, he said, "I…um…I don't really have much to do this afternoon, so…" he felt his tongue curling up. "So…"

Ren was not responding for the first time. It seemed to Rikuto that she was, too, having a hard time coming up with words. Maybe the ventilation in the room was faulty.

Rikuto gripped Ren by her arm, pulling her closer to him. It had been a tough decision. One wrong move, and he might make Ren hate him forever. But she didn't do anything. Seizing the chance, he spoke, his voice shaking and light. "Maybe we can…um…spend some time together?"

Ren didn't answer that, either. Instead, she simply walked forth, wrapped an arm around Rikuto's neck, and whispered. "Where do we go, then?"

* * *

"So you decided to stay on the streets?" Elsa uttered as she walked closer towards Kynan, who'd been annoyed by her persistence at following him wherever they went. He had thought that it would be nice to finally see another human being after almost a year living in the wild, but the presence of Elsa had turned that idea upside-down. Now he just wanted to be left alone for a while, just so that he could finally have a place to think things over again.

But Elsa was too persistent to shake off. Kynan, despite not knowing the city well, dove into a side alley when he saw one. He didn't know where that'd lead him to, and he didn't care. It seemed like a maze to him, but he just walked wherever his instinct led him, left, then right, then left again, and another two rights…

"It's kind of a nice spot to talk, at the back of a restaurant." Said Elsa as she approached him.

Tired of running, he said, "Can't you just leave me alone?"

"No." Being straightforward and honest was a way Elsa liked to make fun of others. LadyDevimon had been with her, but hadn't done anything except following her, as though she was a bodyguard of some sort. This time, however, she spoke. "You're a hard boy to reach."

"Then don't!" Said Kynan, along with a glare from Kudamon. "I've done you a favor, and you've given me what's mine. We're even now, so don't stalk on me again!"

"What if I say I have a place for you to stay?" Elsa said, closing in. "Even that hospital room seemed better than here."

"Kynana doesn't need your help." Said Kudamon, his voice still but alarming.

"C'mon, why is every boy I met so emo?"

"Emo?" Kynan had to admit that she'd profoundly drawn his attention.

"You're just trying to act cool, aren't you?" she muttered. "I've seen exactly another boy just like you. By the way, it seemed that I'm really not good at flirting."

"No, you're not." Answered Kynan. "Now would you let me go?"

"To where?"

"Anywhere without you." The boy said. He seemed annoyed, but not quite as furious and frustrated as he'd been back in the meeting. With that said he commenced walking, but another question held him –or rather, Kudamon –from going.

"I need to know this." Said LadyDevimon, her voice blunt and straight out interrogative. "When we mentioned the Digital World back then, you didn't seem surprised." She leaned her face close to the Rookie. "Did you know already that the Digital World was still out there, instead of having fused with the Human World?"

"I wouldn't say I knew it." Answered Kudamon calmly. "Words spread fast out there. And, coupled with what Kynan told me about Digimon descending from the sky, I couldn't be more surprised."

Everything Kudamon said sounded rational and serine –the tone Elsa would only expect from an old professor or anyone of that sort. It made her wonder more, about how this very Digimon had gotten thrown outside the city. She knew, at least, that only those who'd taken life would be treated liked that. What had he done? And why hadn't he done anything like that since he'd gotten back to the city?

"I've decided to stick with you no matter what." She said, "You're basically a walking mystery."

"But I don't want you company." Kynan answered coldly. "So good luck trying to flirt with others."

"You say that to the first girl you saw after so long?" she mumbled. "That's not very nice of you."

"I think," Kynan couldn't resist arguing. "That after so long, you've ruined my mental image of girls."

"But I have a place for you to stay." She kept on babbling. "At least, Smith does. And if you come with me, you can be there in no time. I'm sure you've forgotten how a bed feels like?"

That was a statement he couldn't argue with. Immediately his mind was flooded with more than just images of the wilderness out there. It was simply a pain to just recall those memories –the rocky grounds he'd had to slept on; the chilling breeze at nights when he had had nothing to cover himself with; the ever recurring noise of bugs and sandstorm coming and leaves falling and, being the worst of all, the echoing of his own footsteps that had made a day feel like a year. It was simply irresistible that he could finally have a place to stay, to rest.

"Alright, I'll come with you."

* * *

Katashi did what he always did when troubled –lying straight on his bed with his limbs fully extended and staring at the ceiling. Sometimes he wondered what the ceiling would feel if it had its own consciousness. Would it felt awkward that it was always being observed by a fourteen-year-old boy who just looked plainly creepy, watching the ceiling without doing or saying anything?

He didn't know what to say to his parents. Sure, they'd known for quite some time that he was involved in all sort of Digimon-related stuffs. But so far, Katashi had only told them that everything was simple and that they needn't worry much. This time was different, however. In just three days he'd have to get outside Ventrium, the place thought to be the only human settlement, and to a world where countless Digimon, brutal beyond belief, inhabited. It was simply impossible to say something to his parents like "Don't worry; I'll be back in no time" or "It's just like a school field-trip" when he was clearly risking his life for a cause he didn't need to be part of.

Usually he'd ask Liollmon for advices. It had seemed to him that Liollmon was no longer the Digi-egg he'd brought home; he was a friend close to him beyond belief. Sometimes he would even need reminding from Liollmon. He tried not to go for him this time, hoping to feel a little more positive on his own. That was when his phone rang.

"Yuzuki?" he answered the call immediately. He'd totally forgotten to tell her that he was leaving.

"Katashi. You sound strange." The girl said on the other side of the phone. "Am I interrupting you?"

"No, of course not." He said. "I just wasn't expecting a call."

"Well, I didn't want to call you either, seeing that you're so busy nowadays."

He laughed. "More than just busy. But yeah, I'm kinda occupied lately."

"I have something I must tell you." She said, her tone suddenly becoming serious. Though Katash couldn't see her face, he could be sure that it was the one when she had to duel with examinations.

"What is it?"

"I met Kaoru yesterday." She said, each word sounding precise and solid.

"Did he do anything to you?" Katashi said before he knew he did.

"No, he was unarmed." She said, in a comforting tone that was clearly intended to calm Katashi down, and she did. For unknown reasons, just by hearing that Yuzuki wasn't harmed made Katashi feel a lot better. "And we had a talk." Yuzuki continued.

"And then?"

"There's something really important I think you should know." She said, suddenly sounding serious.

"What is it?"

"I think there might be a way to bring him back."

For a moment there was a gap between Katashi's train of thoughts. He didn't know what to say. The news that had given Yuzuki such high hopes was equally enchanting on him. His mind was not filled with words anymore, but of images, of memories. He hadn't forgotten Yuzuki'z smiles and calmness, and this was the chance that she could finally shake off her depression and get back to her old self again.

"You okay there?" she asked after a few seconds of Katashi's silence.

"Yeah." he said absently.

"And there is one more thing I should tell you." She paused, adding a "Are you listening?" in between her words before finally saying, "I think he's with Cyberdramon. You know, the one I told you about? I think he's not dead and is behind all these things lately."

"Cyberdramon got to you, too?" he said without second thoughts. It just came out of him so naturally that it took him a second to realize that he'd spoken something very wrong.

Yuzuki noticed something odd as well. After a moment of silence, she said, her voice totally doubtful. "Too?"

Katashi knew that the only way now was to tell her the truth. He could not imagine how she would react upon hearing that he'd been hiding information regarding Kaoru from her, but knew that he had to be honest; this might be the last chance they got to talk to each other in a very extended period of time. And he had ruined this opportunity himself.

"Well…em…I" he said hesitantly. "I…wasn't exactly honest with you the last time we talked."

"What do you mean by that?" said Yuzuki's voice. Katashi could only imagine how her expression was like. She sounded both astonished and suspicious simultaneously. "You…you wouldn't have lied to me. I know you wouldn't."

"I'm sorry." He said lightly; he doubted if Yuzuki could even hear him talk now. "I…I've met Kaoru and Cyberdramon that day."

"No…" he could only hear her murmur. "You…why would you do that?" she was bewildered for sure. "Kaoru showed up and you didn't tell me? Why?"

"I…I thought I shouldn't make you worry." He said. Not seeing her face made him feel more guilt. It had been the same at the last time they'd talked to each other, and that had been the only time he'd dared lie to her, because he hadn't needed to lie to her face. But this time he couldn't be so sure. Images of Yuzuki both heart-broken and angry and disappointed and sad plumped into his mind, made him feel so much more unbearable and almost suffocated him. "I'm sorry." He said again.

There was no responses from Yuzuki; he could only imagined that she was, too, in a lost of words.

"I'm really sorry." He said yet again, somehow hoping that it could make him feel better, but it didn't.

Without another sentence, Yuzuki ended the call, leaving the "beep" sound of the phone lingering on his ear.

He curled into a ball and hid himself under a thin blanket. Even if there wasn't anyone there in his room, he felt an incomparable amount of guilt running through his vessels, and he just wanted to remain hidden. It was hard to explain that kind of feeling, but to him it felt like being naked in front of all the people he knew; he needed an escape, something to make him feel safe. He didn't even know how he should feel; his breaths quickened and he felt something gushing up his throat, like he was going to throw up. Even his eyes moistened a little, but he didn't know if he should cry.

And then his phone rang again. Initially he took no notice of that, but the continuous beeping noise started to swim its way into his head, and, as unwilling to do anything as he was, it got him frustrated, irritated and annoyed, so he just answered the phone.

It was then that he found out it wasn't a phone call at all, but a text message, sent by some anonymous guy. Just the idea of reading it got himself all sleepy, but he did it anyway; he needed a distraction, a good one. And the two lines did interest him.

" _Met me at 9. Bring your partner._ _"_

There was nothing more to the message except for a map, which indicated the location at which he should go. Not having anything else to do, he checked the address up, and found out that it was nothing more than a rather remote alley, somewhere next to Smith's office within a few miles. Immediately he called Liollmon, who was taking a nap at the time, to go with him. The time was eight-thirty, so he shouldn't delay if he was to go; he didn't even begin to suspect the message's source. He needed something to do.

"Where're you going this late?" he was asked before he set off. Tuning behind he saw his mother, looking just a little concern. She didn't know much about Katashi's involvement in all the Digimon-related things. It was another source that made Katashi's heart sink.

"Just a little walk." He answered, leaving no chance for his mum to ask any further as he got out of the door swiftly, saying a quick "be back soon!"

"So where are we actually going, and why are we going?" Liollmon asked, to which Katashi only answered "no idea."

"And you're still going, knowing well that it might be a trap?" Liollmon asked again; the Katashi he knew was carefree, but wasn't as reckless as he was now. Something was wrong with him.

"Let's just get going, okay?" that's all Katashi would say.

* * *

It took him about fifteen minutes to get to the rendezvous, where lamplights had become the only source of illumination, gliding a little shade of orange upon any object that happened to be there. It was a scarcely visited alley, Katashi reckoned, and therefore he was practically alone there with Liollmon.

"I still don't feel right about this." Liollmon said, a little annoyed.

"Can't do anything if you keep complaining." Said Katashi.

"You aren't even alerted!" Liollmon almost shouted; the environment and potential danger of exposing their locating the only factor that kept him from talking aloud. "Something is very wrong with you!"

Katashi didn't answer him, simply walking. The illumination was dim, so dim that their long shadows appeared distorted and would scare some little children should they happen to be passing by. The silhouettes of the street buildings were barely visible. It was a miracle already that they could walk without hitting one or more limp posts.

Arriving at the alley did nothing to sooth Liollmon's unease. The concrete walls around them and the nothingness made him more alerted, and the silence that made the wind audible was getting to his nerves, too.

"Something is very wrong with you." Liollmon said again, for perhaps the tenth time in a row.

Katashi tried not to take notice of that, keeping his mind occupied by the text message, but couldn't. In the utmost silent alley, the only sound other then the echo of his own footsteps caught his attention readily. He turned around, eyes fixed on where he thought Liollmon would be, and said, "We're not discussing this, okay?"

"Then you better focus," said Liollmon. "We don't even know why we're here."

He thought Katashi would say something about that, and he was wrong. Without even a second's time to spear, he sensed something wrong. He doubted if Katashi would feel the same, and he decided that he needed to pretend as though everything went the worst possible way, which motivated him to yell "Watch out!" and leaped over, pushing Katashi aside with his whole body's mass. He could tell that the wind was wrong, but couldn't tell how. It just felt as if the still current had just been stirred furiously, and the change occurred way too rapid that he could only consider this a Digimon attack.

With a loud "thump", hitting the ground hard and letting out a little groan, Katashi saw the attacker in a fraction of a second right before the pain of hitting the concrete ground came into presence. Using one hand to hold his right elbow, which was injured and hemorrhaging slowly, he stood up exhaustedly, leaning against a wall to support his body weight. In that moment, during which he had been falling, he could be certain that he had seen a Digimon, a green one, with exceptional speed that only his colors could be seen in the form of smeared colors, like a spray paint –green, silvery and transparent.

Liollmon, on the other hand, barely escaped the ambush. Standing barely he readied himself, Digivolving into GrapLeomon in no time, coupled with a brilliant white light that made him glow for a while. Using the light, he could identify his target as a green Digimon, four-legged with a pair of really shinny white wings.

"Katashi, you all right?" he asked, not turning around to see Katashi for fear that he should lose track on his enemy.

"I'm fine." The boy answered. "By the way, the attacker is a Chirinmon, Ultimate."

"Don't try to get lucky and move around." Said GrapLeomon. Even in the dark he could notice Katashi's wound. Wasting no time he charged at the silent attacker, who was fast enough that even before GrapLeomon could raise an arm, he was able to move out of GrapLeomon's sight.

"Wind Cutter Sword!" Chirinmon yelled, charging towards GrapLeomon from his right, his horn pointing straight towards the Ultimate. Before GrapLeomon could react, Chirinmon had already succeeded, his horn jabbing on GrapLeomon's chest, pushing him backwards until he hit a wall.

Seizing his only apparent chance at getting in touch with Chirinmon, GrapLeomon held his arms tight on Chirinmon, one grapping his neck and the other near his forelimb. Pulling Chirinmon close GrapLeomon jumped, intending on throwing Chirinmon away, but couldn't. What he did, though, was kicking Chirinmon in the abdomen, giving him nothing more than a moment's pain.

Without even the need for recovery, Chirinmon made his stance quickly, facing GrapLeomon face to face.

GrapLeomon reckoned that it took more than mere physical strength to take down Chirinmon, so he didn't hurry on attacking. Using a second's time he swiftly scanned the surroundings now that his eyes had grown accustomed to the dark. There was not much there, except for a pile of garbage and a few tanks of whatever it contained stacking up near the end of the alley, right behind where Chirinmon was standing. There was no time to think, so he just acted, yelling "The King of Fist!" as he dashed forward, punching Chirinmon, how dodged the attack as easily as ever just by a tiny movement so that he was almost unmoved from his ground. That was what GrapLeomon was counting on. Keeping his attack functional he struck the giant tanks, causing them to collapse right on top of Chirinmon.

Chirinmon took a while –perhaps a millisecond –to comprehend the event and took immediate escape, dashing backwards.

"Not so fast this time, huh?" a voice sounded behind him, and before he could turn, a kick struck the left side of him, sending him hurling straight to a wall.

Chirinmon, however, was not easily beaten. Standing up straight again he said lowly, "Knowledge of Swift." And at first, though he didn't seem to be doing anything, GrapLeomon could sense the current changing again, and by the time he focused on Chirinmon, there were already more then one Chirinmon, encircling him.

"I hate this kind of tricks!" he muttered, keeping an eye on as much clones of Chirinmon as possible.

"Left!" he suddenly heard Katashi yell, and before he even finished the word, GrapLeomon turned to his left, where he saw a Chirinmon dashing straight towards him. Holding up his arms in front of his torso in a defensive posture, he was able to block the attack, pushing Chirinmon back.

Another Chirinmon moved, but was stopped by a sudden roar.

"That's enough!"

Katashi and GrapLeomon and even Chirinmon, both confused, looked at the source of sound. with a little illumination provided by Katashi's Digivice, they could see a person standing there, and that wasn't just any person. It was Kynan.

"What're you doing here?" Chirinmon mumbled, confused as a bright light enveloped him, degenerating into Kudamon and, quite weirdly, floating his way back to his partner.

"I could say the same." Kynan said calmly.

They seemed so absorbed in their own conversation that Katashi had to remind them that they weren't the only one there, saying, "Could someone explain what's going on?"

Kudamon spoke first. "I lured you here."

"Why?"

"I was about to say that." Said the tiny Digimon. Despite his body size, he seemed just as authoritative as his partner. "I sensed something eerie back in the meeting. And it was about you." He said, staring at Katashi.

"Me?" Katashi uttered. "What's wrong with me?"

"You seemed too certain."

"And?"

"You have no idea what kind of danger you were putting yourself in."

For a second Katashi could not think of a word to say. Had he really been like that? He tried to remember, but couldn't agree with Kudamon. He had known, since the day he'd put himself in his job, what exactly he would have to deal with, and that included the possibilities of getting out to the barren land or into the Digital World or even somewhere of entirely unknown. How could Kudamon say that, when he was totally sensible as to what he was about to do.

But the Rookie continued. "You seemed to me that you were eager to put yourself in danger without knowing it."

"That can't be true!" GrapLeomon argued. "You don't know Katashi!"

"That's why I had to test him, and you." Said Kudamon coldly. "And as it turned out, I was correct."

"About what?"

"That you shouldn't be a part of the team."

Everyone went silent, except for Kynan, who said, "You didn't have to say that."

"You are reckless and you don't acknowledge it." Kudamon continued, ignoring Kynan. "You're only doing it all for yourself. If we truly travel with you, you'll only become a liability someday."

Katashi stepped forth. "So, what do I have to do to prove I'm not?"

"Nothing." The Rookie had stopped staring at Katashi, but somehow that just made him seem scarier. "You can't do anything to change your attitude."

"That's quite enough for now." Kynan, once again being ignored. GrapLeomon wondered for a moment if they were really partners. They seemed to him more like two strangers who happened to know each other, and that's it.

"Sorry we interrupted you." Kynan told Katashi, as he turned around, ready to leave.

"Think about it yourself." Kudamon didn't let his chance of saying anything go. "Or maybe you've noticed already, but just couldn't admit it."


	13. The final burden

-The final burden-

It wasn't his style, lingering on a single question so that he couldn't fall asleep for the entirety of the night. Despite his weak night-vision, he could still roughly make out the outlines of different objects in his room, and closing his eyes just didn't help much.

 _What is wrong with me?_ Katashi thought, after having spent most of his attention on the dim decorations in his room without blinking for quite a while. Kudamon's criticism had gotten the better of him, and right now he was troubled by his motives for taking all those actions in Digimon-related issues. He simply couldn't figure out what was it that made Kudamon despise him. _I'm not really that eager to put myself in danger?_ Rewinding the clock to a few days ago, when he'd volunteered to take over the place Smith had intended for Yuzuki, he tried to figure out his motives back then. It had all been a simple desire to keep Yuzuki as far away from all the trauma-causing factors as he could, and that meant keeping her safe. So why had Kudamon claimed that he had only been doing it for himself? Hadn't he been always keeping Yuzuki's safety as his first priority? And, he'd been more dedicated in all the latest attacks than any other of his team.

There were times when he chose to deal with things alone, and now was one of those. He dared not awake Liollmon because of his own issue. He knew something must have been wrong with him that had caused Kudamon to say such things to him. Who knows? Maybe Kudamon was simply a jerk who despised everything he saw?

Tossing and turning on his bed, his mind was starting to starve. He'd thought that having so much thoughts in his head would simply make it blow into pieces, but he felt nothing explosive at all. Instead, he could only find the sense of emptiness that made him uneasier. He didn't know what he wanted to do, and he couldn't get it out of his mind.

 _Why did I even start being a Tamer, a year before?_ He remembered about a year ago, when he'd first taken Liollmon's egg into his care. What had it been, back then, that made him do such a thing? He recalled the events of that day, when he should've just run away and left the fight for Yuzuki. Maybe Kudamon was right. Maybe, somewhere inside him, he truly sought for dangers.

But all that thoughts couldn't do him any good. There were less than a few days before his team departed, and he should be worrying about it, not judging himself.

And then a thought flashed in his mind; it was so simple that he almost laughed at himself, but the silence of the night shut him up. Why hadn't he thought of that?

With that in mind, he closed his eyes again, and the darkness lasted as long as it could be before dawn.

* * *

Jesmon was a bit relived to see Yuzuki getting a bit better mentally lately. Ever since she'd had the talk with Kaoru, who apparently didn't recognize her at all, he saw something different in the girl –hope. She was convinced, he was certain, that there was now a way to get him back. And most importantly, she knew he was alive.

Therefore, when Yuzuki left early in the morning, calling Jesmon to join her, he didn't refuse.

He hadn't asked anything, simply following her. At last, after a few turns in the alley ways and rounding a few street corners, Yuzuki stopped, looking at a rather tatter-looking building that didn't really fit into all the commercial buildings in the district.

"Relax." She whispered to Jesmon, whose faced had tightened up and was ready for any potential threats. "Nobody's gonna hurt us here."

"I reckon that it would be better if we go prepared." Replied Jesmon.

The building seemed to have only one main passageway, and that was the front door. Although perplexed, Jesmon followed Yuzuki tight as she pushed open the door, which was composed of a rusted iron frame and a giant sheet of glass that hadn't been cleaned for so long it seemed to have transformed into just a sheet of semi-transparent plastic.

Before any of them could say anything, a voice rang from behind them as soon as they set foot in the building.

"How'd you know where to find me?" a familiar, half-playful voice sounded from behind.

Yuzuki didn't answer; she simply took out her Digivice and turned to face the girl behind them. "You forgot these things have trackers on them, Amy?"

Ammy giggled. "You finally got a hang on using it." She then walked towards Yuzuki and Jesmon, and beckoned for them to follow her. "What brought you here?"

"And what brought you here?" Yuzuki asked. The building was severely damaged, its frame clearly visible to whoever was inside. It looked almost like a corpse, rotting with its skeleton revealed admits poorly degraded tissue. "It's been like this since the Chaosdramon attack, I suppose."

"And you're correct." Amy said, leading them up a flight of stairs and turning two corners without having any eye contact to Yuzuki. She didn't even turn to see if she was following her tight. "And you still haven't answered my question."

"Well, about that." Yuzuki started, but didn't find it right to speak while walking. "Can we stop for a while? Where are you even leading me to in this half-demolished building?"

"Alright." Said Amy as she stood straight and still out of the blue, without any warning such that Yuzuki almost ran into her. "What do you have to say?"

"It's about Kaoru." She answered honestly. "I think there's a way to get him back."

"When he had been so keen on killing you last time we met?"

Yuzuki nodded, but it was Jesmon who said, "He is under the influence of Cyberdramon."

There was perhaps just a millisecond when Amy showed surprise on her face. "I thought he was dead."

"A lot of dead are coming back alive, it seems."

"Can we go back to Kaoru now?" demanded Yuzuki. And then, as if freshly being awakened from a long sleep, she turned around, scanning her surroundings, and asked when she couldn't find what she was looking for. "Where're TigerVespamon and SkullMeramon, by the way?"

"They're here, just not with me all the time." Amy replied casually. "So you think you can get your boyfriend back, good. But what does that have to do with me?"

"TigerVespamon is with you." Yuzuki started again. "SO I think it'd be nice if he knows that. Besides, you have that little mind trick, don't you? I was thinking maybe that'll help Kaoru remember something –anything."

"And you think we can take down that Gulfmon?"

"We don't need to!" Yuzuki almost yelled without her knowing. "We just let Kaoru remember, and surely he won't hurt us."

"But you said he was under the influence of Cyberdramon." Said Amy matter-of-factly/ "You know things aren't gonna get any easier with that weirdo?"

"But we have to try! It's our –my –only chance!"

It was them that her cell phone rang. Annoyed, she took it out, expecting some nonsense commercial that interrupted their discussion. She didn't even plan on answering the call, but when the screen of the phone lighted up, she found out that it was a text message, with two simple lines and a powerful signature.

"I want to talk to you personally. Please go to the park we've been to so often. Katashi"

"Looks like you've got some trouble." Said Amy, after seeing Yuzuki's annoyed face turn into a confused one. "Wouldn't it be nice if I don't hold you any longer and let you go meet your friend?"

"He probably can wait." Said Yuzuki. She still remembered the utter sense of disgust when she'd found out that Katashi had lied to her about seeing Kaoru and Cyverdramon. She still couldn't understand why Katashi –her best friend –would have done something like that to her. When she saw his name in the message, she couldn't help but feel her heart beat faster and a voice in her mind calling her not to go, to punish Katashi for what he'd done. But there was a part of her that wanted to go, she was sure. He was, after all, her best friend, who'd been giving her countless support ever since she had started to have all those depression issues. Maybe it'd be alright to just give him a chance to redeem himself? It wouldn't hurt, talking to him,. Would it?

But she wasn't the one to make the call. "I'm going to get TigerVespamon and BlueMeramon." Said Amy, patting Yuzuki's shoulder with one hand. "And ion the meantime, you can go do whatever you want."

"I don't know if I should go." Yuzuki confessed.

"Do whatever you like, I said." Amy started walking down the stairs with zero hesitation, leaving Yuzuki and Jesmon behind.

"Howe about you? Do you think I should go?" she asked Jesmon plainly.

"I think you should follow your heart."

* * *

Katashi didn't really expect Yuzuki to come as he sat on a bench at the park, the usual spot he spent time with Yuzuki when the both of them had nothing to do. He looked at the children playing joyfully at a playground nearby, their laughter filling the atmosphere. It brought back memories, of when he had been nothing more than an innocent three-year-odd, having nothing to worry about. How time had passed.

"Thinking about something?" Liollmon asked him.

"Just remembering the good old days." He replied. He didn't even know why Liollmon had insisted to go with him, but the simple fact was that he came, and he was doing his job as a companion well.

"And why did you come here?" Kiollmon asked him.

"Well…I told you you didn't have to come."

"C'mon, I'm curious!"

"It's about Yuzuki, okay?" Katashi surrendered, since there was no longer the need to conceal his motives. When Yuzuki came, Liollmon would know what'd happened between them anyway. "I…I somehow got into a fight with her another night, and it was my fault, so…"

"You want to apologize before we left?"

"Anyone could guess that." Said Katashi, annoyed. The fact that he could feel annoyed, however, was precious to him. For quite long a time, he'd forgotten that he was, however his life was messed up, another human kid, and didn't need to do everything on his own, that having the responsibility of a Digi-Destined (though he really wasn't one) should not outweight his life.

And to his further delight, he saw Yuzuki come the moment after his short chat with Liollmon. She looked better, more energetic, as least, wearing a light purple midriff vest with a mini skirt that looked somewhat jeans-like.

He stood up, walked towards her, so that they faced each other in a matter of seconds, but he didn't know what to say the moment he saw her dark eyes. He hadn't seen her for quite long, and that made seeing her again made him a bit nervous.

She was, therefore, the first one to speak. "So, why'd you call me here?"

"Well," Katashi started, swallowing. "I wanted to apologize, for what I hadn't told you." He endeavored to keep his eyes on Yuzuki;'s, but couldn't. Somehow his head just wanted to tilt down facing the ground.

"Yeah, about that…" Yuzuki said. "I really wasn't…am not…pleased with that." She, too, sounded difficult getting those words out. "So I came to see if you've anything to do with that."

"I can't do anything besides saying sorry for a dozen times." Said Katashi lightly, and they both laughed. The tension of talking with her had now weakened, and he could feel like he was simply talking to his friend, like old times. "And, I'm here to say goodbye."

Yuzuki's face looked puzzled.

"I…we are going to get to the Digital World a few days later." He said. Admitting his fault seemed somewhat easier than saying this. "There might be dangers ahead, and I don't want that phone call to be our last conversation, so…"

"Don't say it like that!" Yuzuki muttered softly. "You'll be okay."

"I know I will." he replied. "I just wanted to make sure of it before I go."

"Make sure of what?"

"That we're still friends." He spoke so lightly that only she could hear him. "That you've forgiven me for lying to you. That's really important to me."

"I forgive you." She said. "Why wouldn't I? You simply didn't want me to get worried, did you?"

"But I still lied."

"Are we still friends, then?" she seemed to have started to get a little impatient. "Cause friends don't really behave like that to one another."

"Of course we're friends." Said Katashi, his warm smile returning to his face. it wasn't until then that he remembered something, something about him that he needed to make sure.

"By the way, Yuzuki, I want to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"It's that…somebody told me, lately, that I'm pushing myself into danger."

"So?"

"Do you really think he was right? I mean, I did get into this matter because I couldn't leave Liollmon's egg untouched."

"You shouldn't even think about that!" said Yuzuki. Her voice was so gentle and convincing that it seemed as though she'd never, for once, hated Katashi. "That's not who you are, getting bothered by something others say."

"I just need to know." Katashi said, "And I think you know me best, so…"

"So what? Nobody can change who you are." Replied Yuzuki. "You did all these on your own will."

"I guessed you'd say so."

And then there was a pleasant little chat between, mostly exchanging their daily lives as though they hadn't seen each other for a life's time. Having decided that it'd be best to just let the two humans talk alone, Jesmon hadn't taken part in the entire conversation, as did Liollmon, simply watching over them. It seemed that a minute ran faster than a second now, and that they never really got enough time to just hang out. Sometimes he wondered what he'd do if life remained so peaceful. Not that he didn't enjoy the peace, but he wondered the meaning of his existence if there's nothing to protect.

That was when a weird yet familiar noise, like a tube of water being sucked dry. Before he needed to warn Yuzuki about it, they'd already turned their attention to their back, where a few tens meters ahead was the purplish dark void, entwined by thin lightning.

"Kaoru…" she couldn't help but mutter as the Gate expended and the familiar shape walked out of it. As pleasant as it was to see him again, she wasn't really in the mood of embracing the hope of getting him back this soon. Amy was to be a help, she knew, but she wasn't there at the moment, and she wouldn't even know if she could do it.

"Get back!" Jesmon said, readying his blades as Liollmon Digivolved into GrapLeomon.

"We don't have to fight!" shouted Katashi towards Kaoru. "We can help you!"

But he just ignored every word he said. Mephistomon hovered above him, his limbs numb and motionless, like a plush doll being held only by the head.

"Please, just let us talk to you!" Yuzuki shouted, but to no avail. Therefore, when Mephistomon advanced, accelerating towards the girl, Jesmon got into his way with his blades at the ready, leaping forward to intercept Mephistomon, who simply swung his body a little to dodge a slash from the Mega. GrapLeomon, seizing the chance when Mephistomon was busy balancing himself, shot himself up into midair and swung a knuckle straight to Mephistomon, successfully injuring the Ultimate, sending him flying straight towards the concrete floor.

In the meantime, Kaoru approached Yuzuki, his eyes glistening. "Tell me everything!" he shouted, running forward. "Tell me why you left me behind!"

Yuzuki was perplexed, failing to find a word. But by then Kaoru was already in front of her, using one hand to push her around and the other to pin her torso against a tree. Katashi tried to approach him, but was constantly interrupted by the crossfire of the battle. It seemed to him that Mephistomon was purposely leading the fight close to him so that Kaoru and Yuzuki could be alone.

"I…already…told you." She uttered with her throat being gripped by Kaoru, choking. "You are my friend –and more than that…"

"But why was I alone, in the middle of nowhere, when he found me?" his glare seemed more furious, as though the confused Kaoru she'd met before had gone completely, leaving only a complete stranger.

"We thought you were dead!" Yuzuki struggled to get the words out. "We thought you were gone, and…"

"And?"

"And you have no idea how much I grieved for you after that!" Yuzuki snarled, shaking off his grip. Even if she was delighted to see him return, she couldn't bear letting Kaoru accuse her for abandoning him. She'd never do that, and Kaoru should know that. It just made her more infuriating that Cyberdramon had twisted the fact that much, changed him that much.

"I don't believe you."

"Then believe in your mind." Amy's voice came. Yuzuki looked around nervously, and saw that she was rushing towards the battlefield with both SkullMeramon and TigerVespamon. A ball of molten metal flew towards where they were standing, but missed just by inches so that the shock was enough to shake them off balance. In the midst of that, Amy hurried forward and grabbed Yuzuki by her arm, dragging her away from Kaoru.

Kaoru, however, wasn't stopping with that. He rose to his feet quickly, and immediately began pursuing Yuzuki, only to be stopped by a sword, which dropped vertically in front of him, puncturing the ground before his step.

"I don't want to do this, but I can't let you get her." said TigerVespamon, walking slowly and retrieving his sword, pointing it at Kaoru's chest. "Please, stop this."

Kaoru didn't seem to care about that at all. He eyed his surrounding quickly, and immediately turning to his left, trying to shake off TigerVespamon, but couldn't.

"You're not going anywhere." Said the Mega, determined to hold his ex-partner away from the others.

"You don't get to decide!" Kaoru snarled, took out his Digivice, and swiped a card along its side. Mephistomon gave a gentle glow before turning into a cloud of pure darkness and nothingness, and emerged from it as Gulfmon.

Hardly holding him off, Jesmon pushed himself from the ground, attempting an aerial strike, but was easily swept away by a thrust of Gulfmon's enormous wing. GrapLeomon nearby charged towards the beast, ready to throw a few punches before being forced to step back as Gulfmon raised his two forelimb and jerked them, preventing Anyone from getting close.

"How'd you find us?" uttered Yuzuki between breathes.

"Never mind that for now." The other girl replied, holding Yuzuki by her shoulder and patting her back. She then turned her attention towards SkullMeramon, who had yet to join the combat. The Mega nodded, and she said, "Now that we're here, let's try to see if your theory would work."

Unhurriedly she pulled a card from one of her jean pockets and swiped it along the side of her Digivice. Nothing observable happened, but Yuzuki knew it must be working, since Amy closed her eyes, as though deep in thoughts, literally. She couldn't recall seeing Amy concentrate to use the telepathy card before, so she must be really working hard this time.

* * *

It was like nothing she'd ever experienced before. For most of the time, it had always been just SkullMeramon talking to her mentally, reporting to her whatever thoughts he got from his targets. But this time, she wasn't just going to be informed; she was going into Kaoru's mind, which already sounded terrible.

It was less like how she'd felt towards mental-eavesdropping. Amy had expected something very nasty, confusing, more or less like reading computer commands. But it seemed just natural. She felt like she was hovering in the middle of nowhere, seeing thousands of information flowing past her as she stared around aimlessly. Somehow it reminded her of swimming in a not-too-well-cleaned swimming pool, with everything drifting past her, but she wasn't able to catch any.

"So this is how Meramon feels most of the time." She mumbled, unable to keep it to herself.

The experience was refreshing, but she hadn't forgotten her task because of that. She was supposed to help Kaoru remember everything that had happened in his entire past life, and it wasn't as easy as she had thought. Tilting her head lightly she could sense the warming flames of SkullMeramon by her side. It should be easier with his aid, but she was still lacking confidence.

"It happens for the first time of everything." She spoke to herself. "Ready, Meramon?"

The Mega gave her a nod, and immediately flew past her, so that he could lead her. a dozen of bright orange-colored stream of light went past the girl, and in the fraction of a second when she laid eyes on them, she could see something in the light. Images –visions of Kaoru's past life.

"So I guess I'll just have to make them shine."

As she followed SkullMeramon, she could feel something strange. There weren't only the brightly colored lights, but also dark ones, completely black such that they seemed like spilled petrol in an ocean. And in the instant when she saw it, she could be certain that she saw an all-too-familiar shape lurking in the shadows –the shape of a reptilian Digimon, which was too dark to be identified as any known species.

Seeing that SkullMeramon had already flew past her and was waiting for her, she left that for a while and continued on her mission.

* * *

"I don't want to hurt you." Said TigerVespamon for perhaps the tenth time in a few seconds. Blocking Kaoru's path to the battlefield was easy, given that he could hurt him, but he couldn't. every time Kaoru attempted to sneak past him or just rush forward towards Gulfmon, TIgerVespamon could do nothing more than holding up his swords and pointing them straight at Kaoru's –his former partner and friend –chest to keep him from moving.

"Why are you doing all this?" Kaoru demanded. "Why don't just hit me?"

"Then why are you doing this?" TIgerVespamon demanded as well. "Why hurt us –hurt her? You loved her!"

"Stop saying that!" he was yelling now. "Stop trying to make me believe something just because I can't remember any!"

"Then why do you trust him?" TIgerVespamon wanted to yell, but couldn't. It was simply an impossibility to point his swords at him and stay calm and keeping his head clear all at once. "Why trust Cyberdramon?"

"You don't know anything." Kaoru spoke, but not in a yell this time. In fact, he spoke so lightly that even TigerVespamon had to pay extra attention to make the words out. "You don't know how I felt, when I was in the middle of nothing but rubbles;; you weren't there when I was starving, couldn't remember anything, cold, naked, alone. None of you were there, and you say you're my friends? It was Cyberdramon who found me, rescued me. Why should I trust you over him?"

"You don't have to trust us." Said TigerVespamon. He wasn't particularly good at speeches, and found himself struggling to get the words out. He just wanted to talk to Kaoru like a friend did, but clearly he was too occupied by whatever Cyberdramon'd told him that he had grown so hostile to even his love interest. "Trust your feelings. You know there's something wrong with Cyberdramonk; you know how Yuzuki feels towards you. You know it; otherwise you wouldn't have wandered alone in Rn before. You want answers, but you wouldn't accept any that we told you. Just trust your instinct, you know we don't have to fight like this."

There was a moment of silence, and then Kaoru dropped to his knees, his hands holding his skull tight, apparently painful. Something must be happening inside his head, TIgerVespamon knew. Maybe Amy had succeeded in waking his old memories, or maybe it was just him finding it hard to extract anything from his mind. Either way, he wasn't aggressive anymore, but instead looked weak, weaker than anyone TigerVespamon had seen. An urge pulsed through TigerVespamon, and he stepped forward, approached Kaoru, leaving his swords behind as he leaned closer to the boy and tried to comfort him.

But then another flash pf purple shone, and out of it came Cyberdramon, looking as though he had been entirely rebuilt with different armor, tattered, foul, and creepy.

"I've done anything I could." Said Amy suddenly, so suddenly that Yuzuki, who'd been watching her back when she was concentrating, flinched a bit.

And then all the fight died at once. Upon the arrival of Cyberdramon, Gulfmon turned towards him and left both GrapLeomon and Jesmon behind. Stunned, Katashi turned towards Kaoru as well, hoping that something good would finally take place. There was a dead silence, and even the warm breeze sounded loud now.

"You don't actually believe them, do you?" said Cyberdramon so lowly that it might as well be a whisper, approaching Kaoru.

"Stay away from him!" TigerVespamon shouted.

"You know what is right." Said Cyberdrramon, still approaching Kaoru.

"Don't listen to him! He's a liar!"

Kaoru didn't give any response; he seemed so painful that he'd curled into a ball, lying on the ground with his eyes shut tight and his breath quickening. Several moments later he was yelling in pain, an invisible force torturing him as if the pain could be felt physically. "Stop it!" he shouted, his vocal cords working at full efficiency. Nobody else could understand what he was feeling. It was like carsickness, only stronger, with involuntary flashbacks flashing in and out of his mind; his actual vision didn't matter anymore. All he could see was whatever had been inside his head.

There was a particularly strong image that kept coming and going frequently –the bloody scene of his parents' death, coupled with the silhouette of Reapermon walking pass him as he barely stayed out of his sight. And then there was the pain again, like someone was hitting him hard in the head, fracturing his skull. The feeling of nausea was so strong that he thought he would really throw up. More and more images flew past him with extremely high speed, yet each one of them was as clear as pure crystal instead of a blur. Only more painful memories were there; he remembered moving to Rn, the golden shape of Magnamon entrusting him with the Digivice and a Digimon partner, and the moment when Reapermon was stabbed in the chest by Piedmon, disappearing into thin air…

Another shape appeared –a shadowed shape of a girl. There was no indication as to her identity, but he just felt safe by approaching it. Somehow it didn't give him the nausea feeling like the other memories. Instead, it just felt warm, gentle…

And then there was another black shape, this time not covered by shadow. It was a Digimon, a humanoid one. Duskmon, he remembered, who was also a somehow resurrected version of his mother. He remembered the gaze Duskmon gave him before fading into nothingness. It was both relieving and hurting at the same time…

The girl appeared again, this time with a more distinct shape. Yuzuki, he knew it when he saw her. The strong pulse of security returned, and he was just staring at her with her eyes staring at his. It was unlike any other memories he'd seen. There was no reason, but he just wanted to keep it in his head; he didn't want the girl to leave him alone, so he proceeded to kissing the Yuzuki, as did she…

When everything faded, he found himself in the middle of the ruins again. He turned, and he recognized the giant vas that had once held Millenniummon, and all the rubbles left behind. He wandered around, notwithstanding that he was wearing nothing. The cold air felt so real even in the form of memory, and he felt the hunger and hopelessness again, all too real to remember.

And then he was back in the Human World, with TigerVespamon standing at one side and Cyberdramon the opposite. It didn't hurt him anymore, and he rose slowly to his feet, still sucking in deep breaths.

"Kaoru?" he heard Yuzuki mumble, and started walking towards her.

And then Cyberdramon struck.

* * *

 **Sorry for whoever's been following this story that I have forgotten to keep the sketches up to date. The remaining images of the protagonists have been uploaded to my deviant art. Use the following links to view.**

 **I repeat: I am no artist, so don't expect much.**

 **Ren:** **yo11110. deviantart art / Ren- 580279722**

 **Elsa: yo11110. deviantart art/ Elsa- 580279693**

 **Kynan:** **yo11110. deviantart art /Kynan- 580279751**

 **Please leave a review or two. They are a great psychological support for me.**


	14. The journey begins

-The journey begins-

Kaoru seemed to have taken everyone's attention –everyone but Cyberdramon –so that they didn't even notice it when Gulfmon gave a weird gesture, right behind Kaoru. For a moment the bestial Digimon curled and twisted, as though it was suffering from so kind of stomach ache, and then he straightened himself up again. The fur covering the front of his crotch beat lightly sideways, revealing a mouth-like organ at his abdomen. It was bonded by dark, flesh-colored lines, and inside was nothing but darkness.

Cyberdramon, of course, knew what had to be done. The moment Kaoru had chosen, moving just a millimeter towards Yuzuki, Cyberdramon dashed forwards, both hands holding his lance, his fragile wings flapping against the wind like scarves.

"Watch out!" being the closest to Kaoru, TigerVespamon yelled. Without hesitation and delay, he dashed towards Kaoru as well, pushing him aside so that he was sent flying towards a tree, stopping only when he hit the truck. The Digimon was back to the combat state again, ready for necessary violence.

But it was already too late. Cyberdramon hit TigerVespamon with the tip of his lance. Having discarded his weapon, TigerVespamon had no means to defend himself, gripping the lance to keep himself standing. It was incredible that the rigged Cyberdramon could actually exert such force upon his weapon that it almost pierced through TigerVespamon's torso had he not evaded it by an inch.

TigerVespamon turned his head as much as he could and located Kaoru, who was trying to stand up straight, holding out his Digivice. It became clear that he'd remembered who he was, as he yelled "TigerVespamon!" with such desperation that he seemed to have turned back into his old self. They'd succeeded; Kaoru was back. Managing a smile, TigerVespamon gazed at his partner.

Then came the kick. Defenseless, TigerVespamon was left flying backwards. The impact was so great that he felt like he was accelerating, like he usually did in midair combat. Standing right behind the Mega, Gulfmon readied himself as well. The mouth like organ on his abdomen dilated, and began sucking in anything that was close to him. The humans had to be held securely by their Digimon partners, and even the Digimon needed to grab on to something to stand still.

It happened at once when TigerVespamon was sucked into the black void of Gulfmon, his features being stretched so that he looked like nothing but a stream of color as it was curried away into the void, his struggles powerless.

"Nooooo!" when the sucking force ended, Kaoru yelled.

The other Digimon, noting the event, turned more furious then they'd ever been before. The most obvious one was Jesmon, who had discarded his clear-headedness and charged straight towards Cyberdramon, his blades flashing with tears he had shed for his late friend. With a swift motion, he stabbed the Digimon that had murdered his friends with a rage that it seemed he should have killed it in a matter of seconds. But when his rage subsided a little, he could only see Cyberdramon there, broken as he'd been, laughing. There was no sign of wounds on the Digimon.

But Jesmon wasn't the only one that got pissed. GrapLeomon joined him as well, punching Cyberdramon right on his head, as Jesmon grabbed and tossed him aside. The impact crushed the visor thing on Cyberdramon, drips of liquid spilling from it. GrapLeomon continued with more punches, each heavier than the previous. He wanted to see Cyberdramon dead, wanted to hear his bone fracture, to tear him into pieces.

Nevertheless, that did nothing to Cyberdramon as well. The Digimon was weakened, but was not dead. It almost appeared that he could take on as many punches without even falling down a little. Though without regenerating power, Cyberdramon just kept standing up straight again after every hit, not unlike an undead.

Even SkullMeramon joined the strike. Silently but rapidly he secured one of the chains in his hand and flung it towards Cyberdramon before the flame started to trailed along it. Cyberdramon was on fire, but still wouldn't fall. It was simply illogical.

"Had enough?" Cyberdramon said finally. The Digimon, however impulsive and desperate, stopped to listen.

"You really have no idea." Cyberdramon barely stood up, but his voice was so full of strength that he didn't sound like he'd been beaten up before. "Hurting a body cannot do you any good."

"Why did you do that!" Jesmon demanded, putting a blade next to his throat. "Why kill him!"

"Don't be so radical. He got in the way himself. Can't blame me for that." There was definitely something wrong with Cyberdramon. He sounded too casual. "But I do remember the face of yours when you entered the Digital World. It was kinda like this one, wasn't it? So angry and yet powerless."

GrapLeomon threw another punch on him, but to no avail.

"C'mon, don't you remember me?" Cyberdramon said. His tone was too odd that he sounded like someone else, someone he'd worked with, someone who'd haunted the Destined for countless nights.

"It cannot be!" Amy mumbled as she walked closer. She was one of the more observant of the group, and she was, perhaps for the first time, doubting her senses.

"Remember when you all called me by another name?" Cyberdramon continued with a crackle so creepy that he sounded like nothing but a manic. "When I was known as Piedmon?"

"Piedmon is dead, and so should you!" Snarled Jesmon as he stabbed a blade into Cyberdramon's already crippled body.

"Half of Piedmon was dead." Cyberdramon corrected him. "The other half, fortunately, flew back to the factory, full of components and a body to house. So of course, you can see that I'm not as good at this handy work as the one who previously owned this body, but it works just fine.

"Besides, you're making the same mistake again!"

Then came a roar, and they remembered Gulfmon. The giant hoof of Gulfmon stomped where the Digimon stood, but they managed to escape the strike. Unfortunately, that also meant a chance for Piedmon to escape. Quickly he made himself into a half-standing and half-leaning position as Gulfmon landed behind him. A Gate then opened up behind them, and they vanished as they jumped backwards into it.

In the meantime, Katashi and Yuzuki were experiencing something way harder. Yuzuki was with Kaoru, whose face had been stained by tears that two clear trails ran down his face. Yuzuki hugged him, and let his head rest on her shoulder, but that didn't do much.

"It's not your fault." She kept saying. But he couldn't hear or say anything. He was just sobbing, and for a few more seconds later he found the world spinning around him before everything went black.

* * *

Katashi was growing more and more anxious about his departure two days later. He hadn't expected for that much to happen in just a day, and was still having his mind brown just by thinking of a way to inform his parents that he would need to go to a place where the dangers there were as unpredictable as a lottery number. He wanted to stay with Yuzuki, who had been staying by Kaoru's side since he'd been sent to a hospital. She'd told him that Kaoru would be all right, and that he'd fallen into a comma probably duel to Amy's mind trick, so he wouldn't be in any danger. She knew about Katashi departing, and said she was sorry that she couldn't help him.

And now there was the problem. Cyberdramon, or rather, Piedmon, having risen from the death, was clearly mental, and that meant that the problem was way more vital than Kynan had thought when he'd first fought Cyberramon.

He decided to tell his parents everything that evening. The problem was way too great to ignore. So, when they came home, and found Katashi waiting for them by the door side, they knew something was wrong. Katashi seemed serious, which wasn't common. But, having been his parents for all his life's time, they knew he could get serious and stubborn and hot-headed at times.

"What do you have in mind?" it was his mother that first talked.

"Well, I…" Katashi started, only to feel his chest harden the same time the words came out, as though an invisible weight had been exerted on his chest, making his heart pump fast. "I need to tell you something, mum, and dad, too."

"What is it?" his father then asked.

He waited for about two seconds, concentrating to ignore the bumping heart that was threatening to jump out of his ribcage, and then he said, "I'll need to get to the Digital World two days later. I may be gone for weeks, or even months; I don't really know. And I just want to let you know that I'll be fine and…I'll miss you."

"Why?" both of them asked.

Katashi then proceeded to tell them the truth, about everything that had happened a year before and the most recent issues, which had caused him much trouble and stress. Even his parents couldn't understand why Smith would want half a dozen of kids to do the work that was supposed to be done by someone else, someone more mature and…someone expendable.

"I will be fine, I really will." He reassured his parents, though he couldn't even convince himself.

His parents stared at one another, apparently communicating with just eyes. They seemed to understand each other even without speech, and the awkward silence was kind of disturbing to Katashi. He'd never seen his parents considering something serious, at least not at his presence.

"Good luck to you, son." His father said, leaving him with nothing but a "what?"

"Starting to have all those considerations means that you've really grown up a lot." His mother said, smiling. "We will be worried, make no mistake. We will always be worried, because you're our son, and even if you've grown to fifty, have had a family, we will still be worried. But you need to know that we have faith in you, and you'd better not let us down."

Katashi hated silence, but it seemed to have come to him very frequently lately. He didn't know what to say except for a "thanks", so that's all he said before the family did their routine lives for the last two days.

* * *

"Are you sure you really want to do this?" Kaito asked Rikuto for another time.

"Of course I'm sure!" replied Rikuto, sounding a little more than furious. "I know what I'm doing."

"But you don't have to go." Kaito said, "I can do just fine. Besides, you've just started to have a relationship."

"She's coming too."

"And that's how you prefer to date her, in a world full of unknown threats?"

"You don't get to decide things for me!" it was probably the first time in a few years that Rikuto had yelled to his brother. It just bothered him, that he was always considered helpless and needed advices. He was, after all, just younger than Kaito for several minutes, and that had been decided just by chance. It would have been the other way around had the odds be in his favor.

Kaito seemed a bit shocked. He was protective, but he wasn't stupid. For a moment he realized that he had been acting on emotion too much. Rikuto's yell hadn't been for nothing. It reminded him that they were two individuals, and that he should probably believe in him more. Thus he said, "I'm sorry…I didn't –"

"You don't have to say anything." Said Rikuto. "Just don't try to be a jerk sometime."

Kaito actually laughed upon hearing it. He looked to the left, where the two Dracomon were resting nearby. He kind of envied them, that they were brothers, just like him and Rikuto, and yet they didn't exhibit any form of quarrels.

"We're going tomorrow." He said coldly, walking towards his room. "Better get some rest first."

"But what about mom?" Rikuto suggested. It was the issue he had wanted to discuss with Kaito, but things just went the wrong way such that he could only remember it by now. "How are we gonna tell her that we're leaving?"

"I don't know." Answered Kaito. "But I think we'll figure that out tomorrow."

* * *

Morning came sooner than he'd expected, but he gladly accepted the truth, that today would be the day where he'd left everything he loved behind for a save-the-world journey. Glancing back at his room he asked, "Everything ready?"

"It should be me asking you." Liollmon said, lagging behind Katashi. For some reasons he just didn't like walking in front of the boy. Maybe it was because so that he could watch his back, though Katashi seemed to be more than capable of taking care of himself.

"Everything packed and ready." Katashi said. It was kind of intriguing, even to himself, that he could still manage a smile and talk light-heartedly when everything they're about to face was guaranteed horrifying. He took one last look at his room, at the bed he'd always lay upon whenever he got trouble.

 _It_ _'_ _s not like_ _I'_ _m leaving for good/_ he reminded himself. Turning around he walked towards the door, and then to Smith's office.

* * *

It turned out he was the first to be there. At seven-thirty he and Liollmon waited anxiously at the park directly opposite to the office.

"Nervous?" he asked Liollmon.

"A bit."

"Me too." He managed to suppress a yawn. Though he wasn't particularly sleepy, he felt like he was about to be. _Just think of it like a camping trip_. That's how he comforted himself –a camping trip with promised danger; a camping trip that was guaranteed to last more than a month or two. It wasn't that bad; he enjoyed camping anyway.

When he got himself lost in the thoughts of the primitive community in the Digital World, thinking how much fun it would be to finally see a habitat for himself that wasn't inside a vibrantly colored textbook, though it'd be the ecosystem of the Digimon, a figure approached him.

"Have you seen the others?" came a deep yet light voice. It took Katashi a second to remember that was Kynan's.

"Not yet." He said, switching his attention back to reality.

"I see…"

He preferred standing, Katashi guessed, since there was still empty space on the bench he sat on, and should be enough to fit him. He looked away from Katashi, as though avoiding eye contact. It was then that Katashi noticed Kudamon wrapping around his neck.

"About what happened the other night…" Katashi started. Kynan seemed interested, as he turned a bit, probably so that he could see Katashi in the corner of his eyes. "You don't really have to feel guilt about that; I'm fine with what you said."

"I don't feel guilt." Kynan answered.

"Then why do you look away from me?"

"I don't know." He replied. "I haven't seen a single human being for long, I guess."

Liollmon, despite the distaste towards Kynan –or just Kudamon –rose up and approached the foreign boy. "Since we still have time left, mind telling us about your story?"

"We've told you everything we knew." Kynan answered coldly. Katashi, knowing that Liollmon might not really admire the straightforward attitude of Kynan and Kudamon, followed Liollmon and departed the bench that had almost made him fall asleep.

"I'm not saying about you out there." Liollmon continued. "Don't you have anything to share with us, like when you were out there in your community?"

"I wouldn't ask that if I were you." Interfered Kudamon, his voice sharp and squeaky. "That's not how you talk to him."

"I'm sure he didn't mean any offense." Said Katashi as he stood between them. "You don't have to do anything you don't want."

"I'm fine with that." Kynan replied, more like talking to himself. "I just don't think I can trust you…yet."

 _That_ _'_ _s normal!_ Katashi would have said that, but at the moment right before he did, two more figures walked to the rendezvous –Kaito and Rikuto, along with the Dracomon.

"Hi!" Katashi busied himself with greetings, though the twins, as usual, didn't give him much respect and walked straight past him.

Nothing really important happened since then, much to Katashi's disappointment. Almost everybody there except himself, Liollmon and the Dracomon, was very fund of their solitude and did a great job keeping the atmosphere as dull as possible. It made him feel uneasy, especially since they're about to work as a team. Even without using the best of his intellect, he could sense danger in this team. He wanted to have faith, but he just couldn't.

* * *

It took about ten minutes before the talkative ones came, the first one to arrive there being Ren and Valkyrimon. They proved themselves to be much more capable companions, keeping an optimistic attitude and breaking the silence there. It was also the second time that Katashi had seen her. He'd almost forgotten that he still hadn't known everyone in the team, and it sickened him. Fortunately for him, Ren wasn't an especially hard person to talk with.

"And that's basically all I know about you." Katashi ended his conversation with Ren, having said his opinion of her.

She was eager as well, and responded in no time. "Well, I guess Riku never told you about me?"

"I noticed he knew you." Liollmon interrupted. "He just wouldn't say a thing about that."

"That's…that's like him, I guess." Said Katashi.

"If we're doing introductions, I think I should talk as well." Valkyrimon approached the party. Ren looked back at her, then to Katashi again, seemingly annoyed.

"She's a bit like that when talking to strangers." She added. "She'll be more casual once she got to know you more."

"I don't mind that." Liollmon said. "At least she knows manners." He murmured to himself.

"So, what about your introduction?" Katashi asked. "I'd like to know more about you, just as well as I want about the others."

Valkyrimon proved herself to be a very blunt Digimon, and said at once. "The first time I met Ren was when I was just a Rookie, or even less." She talked in such a way that every syllable sounded intact. Katashi didn't really know what kind of accent that was, but he kept listening.

"That was about a year ago. She was special, I could tell it back then."

"But that doesn't really matter." Ren added. "I just happened to be lucky enough to find a Digimon that was willing to team up with me."

"What'd you mean?"

"I was very young back then, though I'm still now." She said. "And most Digimon looked down on me, thought I was just a little girl and therefore didn't worth their time. But Valkyrimon was different."

"That's because I was weak as well."

"Anyway, since we've teamed up, the Institute opened at the same time, so I thought maybe we could enroll there. I'm kind of a fanatic towards Digimon stuff, back then and now."

An unexpected voice came from behind, and she immediately noticed it was Rikuto. "And you became the champion in that Game, which you didn't tell me when you first mentioned the Institute to me."

She could acknowledge the sarcasm in the voice, and looked back. It occurred to her that she hadn't really talked to him since she had arrived, which was odder than usual, especially given that they'd been spending much time together lately. The only response she could come up with was "You jealous?" and it did inflict some sort of non-physiological effects on him.

"Why would I be?" Rikuto answered, looking away. She could see the red spots spawning on his face.

* * *

A few minutes had passed since Ren's arrival, and much to the others' relieve. Elsa was the last one to arrive, which meant that they could finally get going without further delay. No more waiting, that's the best news in the day, at least to Katashi, who'd arrived first.

In to the office they went, and there they were met by Smith himself, of course. He said a few things of formalities and led them into another room, the room that only Katashi and the twins had entered. It looked like something straight out of a science fiction, with overwhelmingly white tile walling the chamber and exceptional lighting, almost more blinding than looking directly to the sun. In the middle of the chamber was a straight device that had intrigued Katashi once. It was elegant in design, with an arc lined with silver paint and a stand that looked not unlike a podium at school, if he remembered correctly.

That was both relieving and disappointing at the same time. Katashi remembered first seeing the Destined walking past a similar device, in an urgent, unprepared situation, and disappearing once they got through the illumination. He admired the courage required for such an act –they might never have come back. And here he was, standing in a familiar chamber, protected by the dozens of workers around him, all focusing on their own issues that they hardly had time to even just look at them as an acknowledgement of their arrival.

Without much delay, the center of the arc flashed with a radiant light, which shone with a bluish gray. The moment had come –the moment when he had to leave everything behind and face the possibility of never coming back. It didn't really occur to him how heavy this moment would be. It seemed just like any other time, any other decision. Just one step, and everything turned into total whiteness even if he had his eyes shut as tightly as human skin could. Nothing other than that was painful, as he'd experienced before. And when he opened his eyes, he was standing in an entirely different location, with green leaves unlike any other he'd seen –beaten-looking and bushy, disorganized. He knew it that he'd successfully gone to the Digital World.

It just happened like that, like taking a step or paying for lunch. Nothing really touchy lingered with him. It was just like any other decision he'd made. It just happened naturally.


	15. Cyberdramon's secret

-Cyberdramon's secret-

Something was not right.

"Liollmon?" Katashi asked as soon as he got to his feet and got a clear vision of his surroundings. If he had remembered correctly, he shouldn't be the only one there; yet he couldn't find anyone else, not at the moment, at least.

Several seconds had passed before another brilliant flash blinded him. And when all was finished, he saw his other teammates, or rather, part of them. There before him stood the Fujimoto twins and Ren, along with Valkyrimon, LadyDevimon and the two Dracomon.

"Where're the others?" the only girl there asked, before a sudden yet vehement yell sounded.

"Get down!"

Reflexively they obeyed, and as soon as the sound faded another deafening boom came, along with it the winds that violently swiped along their clothes, almost knocking them over. For a moment Katashi could be certain that something had flown past them, perhaps a Digimon attack, or just a cannonball, though he found both impossible.

It hadn't even occurred to him that he should've gotten a good look at his surroundings first. While still lying on the ground he sneaked a peek towards his left, and saw immediately what should be Liollmon's limbs, backing away from something. He wanted to shout at him to get away, but before he did, Liollmon was already out of his sight. It wasn't until then that he got a good glimpse of the ground, which was severely cracked as though a dinosaur had just stomped on it, with scorching black marks.

Nobody called them to get up, but they did anyway. Unlike the ground, which had been proven particularly foul and unattended, the air smelled fresh, almost like an air conditioner was there among the woods that were just north to the team.

While he was busy studying the view, another yell from Liollmon brought him back to reality. Turning around he could see nothing but a shape flying straight towards him, too fast to dodge. In no time Liollmon leaped over a pile of scattered bricks and got his paws on his partner, pushing him over so that the jetting shape barely cut his clothes as he slammed against the floor.

"What's that?" he couldn't find another word to express his confusion.

"No idea." A voice, not from Liollmon, sounded. It was Kynan, kneeling by his side and grabbing him by his arm, violently drugging him towards a shattered building that looked like an ancient ruin. Once there he found the others were taking cover as well.

"What is it out there?" Katashi demanded, but to no avail.

"You should really care about not being toasted first." Kynan answered, peeking over the short building before getting his head down again as the uneasy and irritable buzzing sound came again with the shape shadowing the ground for a second.

"Kudamon!" he yelled. Not soon after that he rose to his knees and was ready to move out. Katashi followed, only to be pushed down again, Kynan's palm powerfully resting against his chest. "Stay here until it's safe."

"You don't get to decide that!" Katahsi complained, struggling to get up. "I'm also part of the team; I know the risks!"

"Then you should know what not to do during a time like this." The black-haired boy uttered as he rushed away.

Katahsi turned back, located Liollmon and waved at him to let him know his location. Once it had been done, the Rookie started running, leaping over pebbles and bricks on the ground in a swift motion. But the flying object wasn't letting them regroup so easily. With an irritating screech, the object once again flew past Katashi; the air felt like it'd been tore apart.

"What's happening?" Katashi couldn't help but mumble. Liollmon had been to his side, and had hurriedly Digivolved into GrapLeomon.

"I don't know either." GrapLeomon answered just as blankly. "But whatever that thing is, it's not friendly."

Before he even finished talking, the shape struck again. This time, with adequate body size and considerable strength, GrapLeomon placed the priority at capturing the Digimon alive. It's got to be a Digimon, he knew.

His fists tightened, and he made sure he was standing firm, his legs rooted to the ground. It was clear that the Digimon had been aiming at them, so he'd just have to wait for the Digimon to come. He didn't even have the time to consider his team-mates. In a split second he noticed the red shape accelerating towards him, and he lurched his arms forward, hoping that he wouldn't miss the millisecond where he would be able to slow down the Digimon, dragging it towards the ground.

To his disappointment, he failed. The Digimon was far too athlete in nature that the moment GrapLeomon got his hands on it, it drifted vigorously, shaking off the Ultimate's grip.

It was, however, taken down by one blast of flame from behind, smoking as though it was a machine being burnt. It was a Coredramon that finished the job. Who, Katashi couldn't tell. Both Blue and Green were there, so they might have taken down the Digimon together as well.

Once the smoke faded, they regrouped and approached their mysterious attacker. It was of a considerable size, with glossy red shell covering its entire body and limbs that appeared to be mangled due to the fall. Overall, it looked not unlike a beetle.

"Kuwagamon." Kynan identified the Digimon at once, speaking coldly. "Always hated them."

"I'm not sure about you, but I don't think it'd just suddenly go on a rampage and attack everyone in sight." Said Elsa lightly, tiptoeing towards the motionless Digimon. When they were close enough, she actually pulled out a hand and tried to touch the hard yet slimy shell of Kuwagamon, though she immediately withdrew it once they were in contact. "Should've worn gloves first -basic anatomy."

What's worse was that once she'd pulled back her hand to herself and taken a few steps backwards, the immobilized Kuwagamon jumped into motion out of the blue, its pincers motioning randomly and saliva dripping off his overly insect-like mouth.

"Get back!" GrapLeomon wasted no time, giving Elsa a push as he confronted the weakened Champion. It was too obvious that the Kuwagamon could hardly even maintain its balance, with a posture that looked like a building about to collapse. The Coredramon flew into position as well, surrounding the Kuwagamon mid air such that it could be monitored even if it intended to strike again.

The Kuwagamon, however, made only a hissing sound that Katashi could only guess it was some kind of complains and cursing in its language. It opened its mouth wide, leaned forward as though it was about to ingest, its thin, transparent wings vibrating.

GrapLeomon stepped forward as well, tightening the muscles on his face that he looked even meaner than an actual lion, exposing his saw-like teeth and glaring at the Kuwagamon as if he was intending to tear it into pieces. The Kuwagamon backed off, made another hiss that was just too annoying for anyone to bear, and flew away immediately, its shape trailing up and down in the air, like a puppet being pulled to move.

"That's some back luck we have here." Said LadyDevimon bluntly, scanning her surroundings. "There should be a dozen more lurking round here, I shouldn't wonder. Looks like they've got this place colonized real quick."

"You know about them?" Kaito demanded.

"If I'm not mistaken, I think they're the Kramps that Yuzuki'd told me about." Katashi uttered. "Or at least what's remain of them."

"Kramps?" Both Blue and Green, as well as Kudamon, muttered.

"They're a bunch of beetle-like Digimon, like some kind of local bandit or rouges, I think." Katashi explained. "It got them really hard to be rid of them, so I've heard."

"And you think they're here for what?" Asked Ren.

"Don't be silly." LadyDevimon uttered coldly, giving the girl a mean glance before moving on. "It's only natural that they colonize as much land as they could. Don't you know a thing or two about ecology?"

"Never supposed you have such a thing in the Digital World, too." Elsa added quietly.

"We're getting astray," Valkyrimon stepped forward, "We have a mission."

"Right." Said Kynan, climbing onto one of the taller buildings and peeking over the view of the Digital World. It looked just like where he'd been for the past year, wild and empty, full of sands, and worst, looked too diverse to map. It wasn't even pleasing when he saw the sun rising up high, since that could only mean worse travelling conditions.

"Where are we now?" Blue asked.

"Not sure." Rikuto mumbled, moving around as well. "I'm not sure if we ended up here the last time."

"We followed them in the last time." Kaito added. "So maybe we can ask them."

"Good luck mapping." uttered Elsa lightly as the twins approached Katashi, the only apparent person that should know a thing or two about the landscape in the Digital World.

Katashi wandered a while, looked at every direction possible, and then back to the twins' gazes. They looked simply too inquisitive that it pressured Katashi.

"Don't look at me like that!" he sighed. "It's only my second time here."

And then, with a sudden, high-pitched yelled, everyone turned their attention towards the south. It could be no mistake that Ren was the one yelling, and immediately they went for her, feared that anything should happen in such short a time since their arrival.

Half of Ren was inside a hole, a hole that looked wide enough to be a tunnel, with Valkyrimon barely holding her by her wrist. The girl swung her other arm hard, hoping to get a hold of the floor, but couldn't. It only made things worse with her shaking uncontrollably.

"We've got you!" Rikuto was the first to arrive at her side, holding one hand down so that now both he and Valkyrimon were pulling her up. "C'mon, Green!" he yelled, and the Coredramon complied at once, flying straight towards them and holding Rikuto by his waist tight before starting to pull backwards, flapping his wings. The breeze generated by it was cool and soothing, and in no time they got the redhead back on the ground again.

"What's a pit doing here?" Mumbled Green as he approached the hole and studied it carefully.

"It's..." Ren started, catching her breath. "It's..."

"Hey, take it easy, okay?" muttered Rikuto, helping her get to a sitting position.

"Haven't anyone of you heard of that before?" she asked.

Katashi seemed to be the only one to have half a clue. "You can't possibly think?"

"That this is the way leading to Piedmon's lab?" the girl answered. "I think so."

Katashi looked around to get a confirmation. It was just like the old Destined had described -a ruin-like city covered with bricks and sand and dust and nothingness, with a clear boundary indicating its position and devastated ground that looked scorch. To his left was a pit, one that should have been made by Mercurymon's defeat. It was quite convincing that this was the place leading to Piedmon's chamber.

"What're you referring to?" Kaito asked, ignorance written on his face.

"I think we're pretty close to our destination." GrapLeomon replied. He wasn't sure if he should Degenerate into Liollmon this soon -more fights should be awaiting them.

"And how do you suppose we go down?" uttered Elsa, "Cuze as far as I know, over half of us here can't fly."

"Don't have to worry about that as long as someone can." said Kynan, jumping straight towards the hole. There was a moment of astonishment, but Blue was fast enough to grab him by the armpits such that he wouldn't fall to his death.

"Are you mad?" The Coredramon demanded.

"Let's hurry." That's all Kynan would say.

* * *

It didn't take long before all of them entered. The chamber was in a state of desolation. Cracked rocks and mangled metal bars and glass fragments and whatever they could think of lay there along the road. Dimly lit, the team didn't have much convenience navigating the way, seeing that none of them had been there before. The only one with some connection to the place was Katashi, since the old Destined had told him about it. Still, it seemed quite impossible to explore this place without trouble.

Speaking of trouble, another thing that bothered him was the constant hissing that he heard all over the places. LadyDevimon had been right -the chamber was basically a new home to numerous insect-like Digimon, especially the Kuwagamon. Despite the infestation, however, none of the wild Digimon actually attempted to strike. It would seem that they simply felt uneasy.

"So this is the place when it happened." Katashi mumbled, his head turning left and right as he walked slowly, his feet automatically swiping away the trashes on the ground. _This is the place where he died..._ shaking his head a little, he forced himself to renew the data inside his head. Kaoru was alive, and had returned to Yuzuki, though at much cost. There's no need to feel heavy.

"You really think we can find anything here?" asked Blue, striding unhurriedly behind Kaito. "This whole place seems like nothing."

"I don't know; it's not my call." Kaito answered casually.

"But you wouldn't waste your time here if it's up to you?" Green asked.

"Maybe."

On the other side of the team, there was nothing but silence. Kynan was walking the fastest, outpacing the rest as he staggered towards the deeper end of the chamber. Katashi felt something wrong with all these. They'd hardly known each other, and they're already there together on a mission. He wanted to think optimistically, but the truth was more undeniable. They were hardly a team.

"Come on quick!" Ren shouted to behind. She was one of the fastest walkers there. Waving and jumping up-and-down, she turned her sight to the others before rushing off into the deeper parts.

"Wait!" Someone, probably Rikuto, shouted. "It's a bit too reckless!"

"What else could be inside?"

"Just stick together!"

"So, how does it feel to be with all those weirdos" Elsa whispered to Katashi, who simply sighed. "A lot like school."

"Which means?"

"Just think that everything'd be okay eventually." he sighed again. "You don't get the choice now."

Elsa giggled. "I thought you're thinking about her."

"I'm thinking about getting these all done and go home." Katashi declared. "I know the difference between a friend and a love interest."

"And you admit that you really don't have feelings for her?"

"Now is not the time for this." Katashi said coldly. Even with that speech, Elsa was right. She did make him think about Yuzuki, the very reason he was there in the Digital World. Things had gotten pretty smooth lately, and Yuzuki's depression seemed to have finally receded a bit. It was a relief that she could finally get through all these, and get to be with her love. It was simply selfish that Katashi still consider her as more than just a friend, right?

"Let's just get going." He said, leaving the blonde girl behind as he quickened his pace and caught up with the others.

* * *

Yuzuki didn't know if she should be relieved or in grief. The battle the day before had changed everything. Kaoru had apparently remembered something, maybe more than something, and had chosen to leave Cyberdramon's side. He was back, but at what cost? She kept thinking about TigerVespamon, the one who'd be most delighted to see Kaoru back. TigerVespamon was gone, so that Kaoru would live.

And even with that sacrifice, she didn't know if things were going to get any better. Something's happening to the Digital World, she knew it. And though she'd been tired of all this world-saving issues, she couldn't help but feel worried for Katashi. What if anything happened to him?

Sitting by Kaoru's bedside, she prayed silently for the boy to awake soon. He'd been in a coma for more than a day, and through all that time, she'd been there with him. He seemed quiet, too quiet to be alive, but she knew he was.

Jesmon walked into the room as well.

"You should get some rest." He suggested. "You've been here for more than a day."

"Thanks." That's all she could say. "But I want to stay here, just for a little while more. I don't want him to be alone when he wakes."

Jesmon did nothing. To his knowledge, it was next to impossible to get the girl to change her mind once she'd really resolved to do something, and that was actually not a bad quality of her, only that she was now pushing herself too hard. "Just don't stress yourself." He said softly before he left. "Your parents are worried."

"Thanks" she uttered again.

It took another three hours before anything would happen. Most of the time, Yuzuki'd say that she hated waiting, especially when she had nothing else to do while waiting. But this time, it was different. She felt a sense of responsibility that she should stay there for as long as she could. That was the only way that she could steady her heart and calm her mind, to know that Kaoru's all right.

When it happened, she barely noticed it. Kaoru's hands started shivering, and then his whole body started to twist and thrust, his face tightening as though he was about to get drown. He was gasping for air heavily but wasn't awake yet. Noticing that, Yuzuki held his hand with both her palms, whispering. "It's alright; I'm here."

There would be no doubt that he was having nightmares. She wondered if she looked the same at nights just like he did. Having nightmares would mean that he didn't suffer much brain damage, and should be conscious soon. That didn't delight her too much, nevertheless, knowing exactly how it felt to be trapped in your personal doom with no escape.

"It's alright." she repeated, knowing nothing else that could help. For a moment she thought she saw his eyes open. It would hardly be mistaken, his greenish-blue eyes. But then his eyes was closed again, and his breathing slowed, his facial muscles relaxing. He was just falling asleep, she knew, but she kept holding his hand anyway. It's the only way she knew to make things look right.

* * *

The deepest part of the chamber looked even worse than what's outside. For all he knew, the ground was basically carpeted with glass shards and dust and rocks. The light on the ceiling had already ceased to function, and that made exploring a lot harder. A good news was that there didn't seem to be any Digimon inhabiting there.

"What're we looking for again?" GrapLeomon asked, looking around without a clue."

"It supposed to be some kind of device that allows teleportation." Valkyrimon answered, though she was, too, clueless. "It could be anything."

"That's not at all encouraging." Elsa uttered.

"What if it'd been destroyed by the battle here?" Kaito suggested. "There was a battle here, right?"

"Try not to think of it that way." Katashi replied. "It makes things easier to be optimistic."

"He has a point." Kynan added. "A false hope is the last thing we need here."

"Then just hurry, and maybe someone'll find it before you know it." GrapLeomon said harshly. He didn't like Kynan's being too blunt.

"I don't think any of us can find it." Said Kynan. "What we're looking for, I've been told, is something that can teleport someone to virtually everywhere. I don't think that'd be just some tiny object that would buried in the ground."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" GrapLeomon uttered irritably.

"Go for the big things." Replied the boy, approaching a shattered glass structure near the end of the chamber. It was just as fragile as anything else in the chamber, except that its base consisted of more than just decorative panels. That was a computer, no doubt, and he would find what he needed there, he could be certain.

"You know what a computer is?" muttered Elsa, walking to his side.

"Just because I didn't come from your city doesn't mean I am a primitive a caveman."

"And what do you think of this?" the girl uttered casually, resting a hand on the rusted panel and pressuring a few buttons. Immediately Kynan reached out a hand and pushed off hers.

"Don't touch anything before you know what it is."

"And who gives you the privilege to do that?" Elsa said, getting his hand off hers. He ignored that directly, and resumed examining the computer, doing exactly what he'd just told Elsa not to do.

* * *

"Got anything?" It had already been an hour, and so far none had yet to recover anything useful in the chamber. It might have once been the place where a devastating battle had taken place, but now it was nothing more than just another junk yard, filled without nothing but trash. Everyone had turned their attention to Kynan, who was solely controlling the computer, refusing any others' help.

"You sure you can handle this thing?" uttered Rikuto, trying to get a hand on the computer. The result was, as expected, negative.

"Just shut up and let me work." Kynan muttered, his eyes focusing on the screen solely as though everyone around him was dead.

On the other side of the team, Katashi was getting impatient.

"Can't you at least stick with us instead of lying there?" he shouted at Elsa, who was currently resting on a relatively larger rock nearby, staring at the ceiling, doing nothing.

"Why so when you don't need to do anything?" she replied loudly. "Besides, it's been an hour. I think I deserve a rest."

"And that's how you intend to fit into the team?" GrapLeomon asked. "You didn't refuse when Smith asked you, but now you seem like you'd rather not be a part of us."

"That, my friend, is a very precise analysis." she replied casually. "I don't even know the answer myself.

"But, if you need any entertainment, I'm sure LadyDevimon would be ready to give you." As she said so, the mostly quiet Ultimate stepped forth, apparently readying herself for a fight as she raised a hand and started wiping her fingers delicately.

"I've beaten you once, and I can do that again." GrapLeomon readied himself as well.

"Stop it, you two!" Nearby, Ren shouted. "We're not suppose to fight one another."

"I didn't start this." Said GrapLeomon, his eyes glued on LadyDevimon. "But if it can bring peace to the team, I don't mind hurting someone I don't trust."

"And that's how you plan to live for the rest of the days?" Valkyrimon interrupted, stepping in between them. "We can only rely on one another in the near future, and you think it's the best way to solve conflicts?"

"Wouldn't need to if she behaved."

"Haven't I proved my worth?" LadyDevimon said coldly, her mouth hardly motioning as though the words just came out of her head without a channel. She just seemed creepy from head to toe.

"I didn't trust you." Answered GrapLeomon. "And I still don't. So you'd better act nicely or I may lose my temper again."

"Take it easy, you two!" even Katashi had stepped in between them as well. "She hadn't done anything for the past year; I think that's worth noticing."

"Finally a boy who speaks reasons." uttered Elsa. "You can hardly find them these days."

"And you, if you don't want to come along, just turn back while you can. It's not too late to go home." he turned his gaze to Elsa.

"And let you have all the fun?"

"This isn't about fun!" Katashi uttered bitterly. "You think this is all just a game of some sort?"

"I try to think of it that way" Elsa replied, equally cold. "Makes things a lot easier, you know."

Before the verbal fight could be carried on, Ren shouted and caught their attention. Seizing the chance to change the topic, Katashi walked back to the computer, keeping an eye on Elsa so she wouldn't be too far behind. Who knew what might happen if she got lost?

"Finally got something?" he said while jogging towards the group.

"I think so." uttered Green. "But he doesn't really let us know what's going on."

"Anyway, there's progress, isn't it?"

"There is." Kaito sighed. "If only he would tell us."

Katashi wasn't patient enough. He got closer to the computer, gently pushing away the others that blocked his path, and approached Kynan, who was so absorbed that he hardly noticed Katahis' presence until Katashi leaned close, peeking over his shoulder to see what's going on. Unknowing that it was Katashi, Kynan turned instinctively and used a hand to swipe away whatever's in the way, only to find that it was one of them.

"Don't sneak up on people like that." Kynan complained. "I could've hurt you."

"Well, I just wanted to see the progress." Katashi uttered. "And, you didn't really hurt me, so that's fine."

Kynan looked into Katashi's eyes for a couple of seconds, seemingly lost in thoughts. Katashi pushed him by the shoulder, and he shivered a little as if he'd just awakened from a dream.

"What is it?" he asked with concern.

"Nothing." Kynan said so quietly that it could hardly be heard. He turned his attention back to the computer, and stepped aside so the others could see the monitor. "I didn't find anything about a device that can teleport us to wherever we want, but I did find out some security footage."

"Security footage?" Muttered Ren. "I thought this whole place was a hole."

"With all these structures, it is clear that this place is artificial." Kudamon interrupted. "There is no doubt someone had been trying to keep this place secret."

"Yeah yeah, whatever. We all know this is where he used as a base, don't we?" said Elsa, her voice still sounded far away.

"And what do the footages contain?" Katashi asked impatiently.

"I haven't them." Kynan whispered, almost speaking only to himself. "But I don't think there'll be anything important."

"I want to watch it anyway."

"So be it."

There was hardly anything in the earlier records. It would seem that this place had only been accessed by Peidmon alone, so all the group could tell was that they were indeed in the place where the battle had taken place.

"Fast forward a little." Katashi demanded quietly.

There was still hardly anything. Kynan closed the footage and instead selected the more recent ones. It was odd, seeing that there were footages after the place had been devastated. It seemed almost like someone had been using the computer lately. _Can't really be a surprise._ Katashi thought. _Must have been Cyberdramon._

The reselected footage went on. It was, like any others they'd checked on, almost silent. But this time, instead of the overly illuminated white hall with hundreds of Chaosdramon X being placed neatly as though it was a gallery, the place had been torn down into pieces. It could hardly be recognized as the same place if not for the constantly fixed angle of the camera.

There was no one there, not even the Digi-Destined. The battle must have ended, and they must have had gone home. The fought of that made Katashi shiver a little. He knew what would happen next. He expected to see Kaoru wandering about, seeking help. But that wasn't what really happened.

Instead of the boy, the first figure that had entered the collapsed chamber was Cyberdramon -or Piedmon, mentally -and it seemed that he had been quite certain as to what he should do. There was no hesitation in his movements as he swiftly approached the computer, seemingly uttering something to himself although the sound hadn't been captured. He was out of the camera's range for a moment, and only returned after a few tens minutes or so. Kynan sped up the footage.

Cyberdramon kept mumbling. It would only seem fit, seeing that it was Piedmon's mind housing that body. He walked slowly towards the center where the camera could record, his posture as weird and disturbing as Katashi had seen in real life. Then, after a second of his total lack of movement, the screen started to brighten, the source of the light coming from the center. The camera had been out-focused, blinded by the light. When the light was over, there was a shape lying in the middle of it, right in front of Piedmon.

It was a human shape, though the image wasn't the sharpest available. He was unconscious, most likely naked. Cyberdramon approached him, and proceeded to wake him up.

That boy was Kaoru, Katahsi could be sure.


	16. Cyberdramon's errand

-Cyberdramon's errant-

"Play it again." Katashi spoke numbly to no one in particular, his eyes glued to the monitor.

"It'd be the third time already." Kudamon muttered, but Kynan just followed Katashi's demand, and played the security footage slowly, frame by frame. It still showed the same things –Cyberdramon came staggering into the chamber, left the screen, apparently going to the computer, where the camera couldn't film, and returning to the center of the camera's range of recording, and then the light showed up and blinded the screen. Before anything could happen again, there lay Kaoru, as Cyberdramon approached him.

"Wonder what his face'd be like when I tell him I've seen him naked, for more than once." Elsa uttered. "I heard he's alive, right?"

"Yes he is." GrapLeomon answered. "But I thought he somehow survived, and weren't like…this."

"None of us really know what happened." Katashi added. The others looked at Katashi and Elsa in confusion, but dared not say anything yet. This seemed to be too big a deal to Katashi that they'd rather stand by and watch the events unfold rather getting involved. Their ignorance might cause more trouble than good. "I thought…he said he was found by Cyberdramon, but it seems…" Katashi couldn't find an appropriate word to described it. It was obvious that Cyberdramon had somehow done something so that Kaoru could live again. The only question was: why? Why spend the resource to bring him back to life? It just didn't seem right. He'd thought that Kaoru had just been a part of Cyberdramon's plan to get revenge, particularly to the old Destined, but it seemed to him now that Kaoru played a larger role than any of them had thought.

And it that was true, then Yuzuki, currently staying by Kaoru's side, might be in more danger than before.

"Can we switch the topic please?" Said LadyDevimon, sounding bored.

Katashi looked around. He was still worried about Yuzuki's safety, but everyone present there seemed to agree with LadyDevimon. As the supposed leader, therefore, he could only place all his attention on their mission, which was to find a way to somehow allow them to teleport without a receiver on the destination. Piedmon had done that before, according to the old Destined, and so he must have left some trace of that technology. And what better places to look for it than in his own hive?

"Don't look at me like that." Uttered Kynan, his eyes still fixed on the monitor, though he'd already known that the other Destined was staring at him, as though looking at him would actually speed up the work. "Haven't found anything you want. You sure this is the place?"

"He's never sure of anything." Kaito muttered, earning himself a glance from Katashi. Feeling a bit guilty, he added. "He just knows more than most of us do."

"And that isn't really helping here." Kudamon said lowly. "Maybe we should go look for it somewhere else?"

Katashi closed his eyes, concentrating on whatever he'd heard of from the old Destined. He was., by far, the only one most knowledgeable person in the team with the most information provided by the Destined. Yet, they hadn't told him much. All he knew was that Cyberdramon had once possessed the ability to teleport in the Digital World, pretty much without restrictions, and that the only way to obtain that ability was to confront him, which really wasn't an option for the time being. So, they could only keep searching for it in his lair.

Except…it wasn't his lair. He remembered that the chamber had only been the place where the final battle had taken place, and by then Cyberdramon had already been dead for a while, so it was safe to assume that this was only an alternative hideout for Piedmon.

 _Then where could their official hideout have been?_ He struggled to remember the facts, but most of the time he'd only been given really simplified words, and he'd only remembered them because he needed to understand what Yuzuki had been through to get her out of her depression.

"Maybe we go for that factory?" suggested Ren.

"What factory?" asked Green and Blue simultaneously.

"You really don't know about that?" the redhead asked, almost astonished from the looks of her.

"Just tell us about it." Kaito muttered as he sat down on a large boulder right to his left. There'd been too much standing.

Ren cleared her throat, and started. "You know, the Digi-Destined blew up a factory that was responsible for making the Chaosdramon. None of you had really heard of this?"

"I'm surprised that you know it." Uttered GrapLeomon. "Even I don't know it, not that detailed, anyway. Where did you hear all of this?"

"Schoolmates, internet, newspaper…people really talk about it everywhere."

 _And no doubt one of the Destined had started it, most likely by mistake or boasting.._ Katashi thought. That was some inside information that even him had never really heard of. He could only assume that it wouldn't hurt much, especially to Yuzuki.

"Then where is this factory?" Kynan interrupted. He'd abandoned the computer work.

"A long way from here, to be sure." Ren replied. "But isn't it a bit reckless just to travel that long away base on just one speculation?"

"A feeble lead is better than none." Kudamon said.

"So, we're about to move out again?" Rikuto uttered, receiving glances from the others. "What? I just wanted to make sure."

No one had noticed their uninvited company, who could only be recognized once he'd spoken.

"You really have no idea what to do, do you?" the voice was shaky, filled with different layers of tones like some special theatrical sound effects had been put on it. It was, however, unmistakably a familiar sound. Both Katashi and Kaito could remember. It was Cyberdramon's voice.

And when the Digimon readied themselves, Cyberdramon said again. "That's not how you behave in someone's home."

"No place is yours." GrapLeomon said. "You almost destroyed everything, and you still think you can claim a rightful place you call home?"

Cyberdramon giggled, a terrible noise like metal rods tackling against glass bottles. "You want something from me, don't you?"

"Why would we break in here if not?" LadyDevimon said lightly, a bit taunting. "Got a terrible voice there, by the way."

It was actually good news, at least to Katashi, that Cyberdramon, the very Digimon they needed t o confront, showed up right in front of them. This could be the chance to get the teleportation device or program or whatever that allowed him to travel freely between worlds, and it should not be mistaken that they would need to interrogate him to force the information out, but still, it's the only shot they've got.

"Give me a reason why we shouldn't hurt you." Katashi stepped up, demanding.

"Well, first of all, because you can't beat me." Cyberdramon uttered, his hand motioning as though he was counting. He sounded more like talking to himself than speaking to them. "And, I guess you have a lot of stuffs to ask me, so you better treat me nicely or you might never get the answers." He could see the faces of distrust on the humans. It made sense to him that they simply couldn't use a peaceful way and end this conflict by words. Thus, he added. "For instance, you might want to know what happened to that boy? Kaoru, I think that's his name. By the way, you may be wondering the absence of Mephistomon as well."

It tackled Katashi more than anyone else. He needed to know everything about Kaoru, and he wasn't patient enough to keep on listening to Cyberdramon speaking nonsense. "GrapLeomon," he whispered. "Do anything you need to get the words out of him."

The Ultimate nodded slightly, but didn't take any action, not immediately.

"And how are you planning to get out of here? I mean, it's pretty reckless to enter a dungeon without any backup plans."

"Just shut you mouth an tell us everything you know!" Katashi demanded, to no avail.

"I sense tension." Said Cyberdramon, taking out his lance, which was covered in more rust than metal. It seemed so fragile that its practicality as a weapon was questionable. That, however, didn't bother the Destined much. In no time, GrapLeomon had leapt forward, his fist tightening as he drew one hand back to gather potential energy. Cyberdramon rushed forward as well, facing the strike directly with his lance held tight in one hand, a hand that didn't seem to be of much use in this battle, since it was his left hand. The noise caused by the hit was explosive, as though a dozen of glasses had been dropped to the ground and shattered simultaneously, followed by a harsh, solid landing sound as GrapLeomon made his footing on the concrete ground.

He turned, only to find out that Cyberdramon was completely intact, and had been waiting for the moment he turn to strike, his lance smacking right to his face, knocking the Ultimate to the ground before he gave an addition kick and sent him flying towards a pile of pebbles, all of which rained down on him like an avalanche.

"You need to learn some manners." Mumbled Cyberdramon. The other Digimon proceeded to attack as well, the most obvious one being the twin Coredramon. Flashes of blue and green wrapped around Cyberdramon as the Digimon flew past him, circling Cyberdramon in unison. With one swift move, however, Cyberdramon knocked one of them out of his way as he jumped, fiercely charging forward, stepping on the fallen Coredramon –Blue –as he raised his lance to block an incoming slash from Valkyrimon. It wasn't easy, and it took almost twice the strength as he'd taken down GrapLeomon to keep the distance between him and the Mega.

"That's more like it." He mumbled, kicking Valkyrimon in the stomach so that she staggered back, her grip on the sword loosened. "I was expecting more from you. At least the last time they were entertaining."

A ball of flame jetted from behind, but Cyberdramon simply tilted his head and let the fireball hit the computer behind him, leaving it in red and orange, coupled with acrid smoke.

"Now, how should I punish these intruders?" he mumbled, approaching the humans. "They're break-ins, after all. Don't really like the illegal stuff."

Cyberdramon rushed towards the Digi-Destined, his lance holding strictly, pointed towards the kids. There were attempts to slow him down –two bursts of flames from the Coredramon crossed paths and were about to hit Cyberdramon when he suddenly leaped forward to a greater extent, leaving the flames jetting towards meaningless walls as the cyborg Digimon continued.

"You're not targeting them!" came a snarl from GrapLeomon, freshly risen from the dust, holding one arm on an injury on his left shoulder. Despite that, he charged full speed towards Cyberdramon, and was, fortunately, able to catch him before he could lay hand on the children.

"Why can't you just lie down and watch the show?" Cyberdramon muttered, swinging his lance backwards. The solid metal hit CrapLeomon straight in his stomach, and fragments of the rust flicked off the lance. It was, nevertheless, an iron-hard strike, forcing GrapLeomon to drop to his knees, his hands covering the injury on his stomach as his eyes glistened with hatred of helplessness, falling down again.

Cyberdramon did slow a little, and that was more than enough to gain Valkyrimon a chance. It would seem that she'd been forgotten since Cyberdramon had "finished her off", and that was good. Doubtlessly she took out her crossbow and closed an eye, pointing the launcher straight at the accelerating Cyberdramon.

"Aurvandil's Arrow!"

So fast that not even a flash could happen, Cyberdramon dropped to his knees, making some of his disturbing machine noises.

"Stay back." Valkyrimon approached Cyberdramon as she extended an arm, gesturing for the humans to stay behind her. The other Digimon joined the Mega, surrounding the fallen Cyberdramon. He appeared completely out of consciousness, lying there on the ground, immobilized, as though the Digimon had become just a mechanical shell instead of a living being. Sparks splashed from a wound near his back, where Valkyrimon's arrow had hit, and some metal fragments flicked off.

"What do we do now?" Katashi asked. He had never expected that Cyberdramon would've been killed so soon. Being their only lead to their goal, he was perplexed. They might never find a way to get to the virus again.

It occurred to him only seconds later that Cyberdramon had died meant nothing more would take place. They had defeated their target; no one would ever set sight on the virus again. Their mission had been completed. That was actually a relief, at least to himself. All those fighting would be gone forever…

Except that Cyberdramon was, as he would've guessed, not quite as dead as he'd wanted. With the screech that made most of them cover their ears, the broken cyborg rose, but only barely. Valkyrimon placed her sword close to his throat, demanding, "Talk, or die."

There were no responses.

"How did you get yourself that fancy little tech?" Elsa was the first to speak. "That's really something everyone's dying for."

He remained silent.

"Give us that tech, and forget about ever acquiring the virus!" GrapLeomon snarled, but he was still speechless.

"Talk!" GrapLeomon became impatient, slamming a fist against Cyberdramon's chest, one of the visible ribs falling off. Before anyone could react, he'd already locked his fingers round Cyberdramon's neck, raising him and slamming him against a wall. Dust fell off and blurred Cyberdramon's visor, but the beeping light dots could still be seen. It was as though they were indicating Cyberdramon's vitals, with the frequent beeps, the ones happening now, showing that he's weak beyond imagine.

"Calm down." Kudamon said coldly. "That's not gonna work."

"Then maybe you should try and get him to talk." GrapLeomon replied, not even looking back. "If I remember correctly, you didn't even take part in the fight!"

"That doesn't make his words any less convincing." Ren said, approaching the Ultimate. "I don't know you much, but as far as I know, you're not such a hot-head. You're acting way too like Riku." The white-haired boy gave her a glare, but she ignored it.

"Let me try something else." Said LadyDevimon, slowly approaching GrapLeomon. Gently she raised an arm and placed it atop GrapLemon's wrist, smoothly brushing against it and removing it from the cyborg's throat. "You see, we can either let you live, or kill you. It doesn't really make any difference." She said so casually it sounded more like she was talking to a friend over mobile phones.

"Talk, and we let you live, but we'll beat you to your destination and you'll fail quite sorrowfully; Don't talk, and we'll just kill you here, and then that's the end of our job. You see, killing you's actually quite easier, but my little friends here seem too stuck to moralities." She abruptly placed her hand over his chest, ready to rip out his Digi-Core any second.

"You won't want that, trust me."

"Now you'll talk." Commented GrapLeomon with audible frustration. "Don't want to die? Then tell us how to use your teleportation systems!"

"You won't know that either."

GrapLeomon's facial muscles tightened, his eyes narrowed. Katashi, feared that GrapLeomon might beome rush again, jogged forward rapidly and told him to stop for a while. He said that he wanted to know more about whatever Cyberdramon had to say first, and the others agreed.

"What do you want?" he demanded. "I can't keep them calm for long."

Cyberdramono giggled, mixed with the mechanical noise such that he looked more like a malfunctioning machine than an actual living being. His visor head was incapable of showing any signs of emotions, which only made him creepier than anything else.

"That's more like my line. You stole it?" Cyberdramon muttered, so lightly that only those who're near could hear. "You want something from me, don't you? Then you should be the one asking questions. But, why is it that you're following my lead now rather than yours?"

"We don't have time for that nonsense." Kynan uttered. "Just finish him off already."

"You sure you want to do that?" Cyberdramon said. "Cause your friend here wants something only I can tell."

"We won't need anything from you once you're dead." Katashi replied.

"Really?" said Cyberdramon. "Then you don't want to know…well, just for an example, what happened to that boy, the one I brought back? Seriously, you should be showing gratitude that I revived your friend instead of beating me into a pulp. That's some poor manners."

At the mention of Kaoru, Katashi changed his mind. "What happened to Kaoru?" he asked, louder than usual. "What happened to him!"

"Calm down. He's playing tricks with you." Said Elsa. "We all know you'd lost your mind for that girl."

Katashi ignored her. Whatever Cyberdramon had done, he hadn't done that without consideration, and bringing Kaoru back should be one of those. Maybe that's why he'd brought him back to live in the first place, to use him as a bargaining chip in situations like this. Maybe he'd even let Kaoru back to Yuzuki on purpose. Something must be wrong with him, and whatever affected him would affect Yuzuki as well. He couldn't just let Cyberdramon die without knowing what might happen. Cyberdramon had done a great job keeping his life.

"You know, he's not exactly the type you like, is he? I heard he took the one you love as well." Cyberdramon continued. "Wouldn't you be glad if he'd just stayed dead?"

"Tell me what happened to him!" Katashi yelled again. Kynan tapped his shoulder gently, reminding him to stay cool, but to no avail.

"Well, to put it simply, he's a ticking time bomb." The cyborg said, a trace of satisfaction leaving from his tone. "And I, of course, am the only one who can disarm him."

When nobody said a word, Cyberdramon continued. "I guess that means you're not going to kill me?"

"Don't even begin to think about that." Valkyrimon whispered, her sword closing in his throat.

"Well then, go ahead, and see how your friend reacts." Cyberdramonsaid, also in a whisper, "I bet there'll be quite a lot of screaming."

"Tell us what we want to know, and we'll let you live. It's that simple."

"And what do I get in return?"

"We'll spare you."

"That's not your call." Said the cyborg, followed by his crackling giggles. This time, his whole body shook, making the annoying "clunking" sounds. It sounded like he was about to be shattered in parts. It was kind of hard to witness that, even if he was an enemy. It just felt inhuman. For a split second, Katashi even started to feel sympathetic towards Cyberdramon. He could hardly imagine living in a body that would break down into pieces at anytime for a whole year, not to mention that he actually risked his life in combat. _Stop thinking that way!_ He reminded himself. He was supposed to have been dead because of the sins he'd committed. Living in a shell like that seemed no more than reasonable punishment.

"Are you going to stare at me for the whole time, or are you gonna listen to whatever I have planned for you?"

"We're not taking any part in your plan." Said Kynan. "You're domed anyway."

"That's the problem." Replied the cyborg. A bright purple light flashed from behind him, causing anyone near to raise their hands to cover their eyes. Still, the light was so brilliant that it seemed covering their eyes was idle; it just penetrated their eyelids and left them seeing nothing but whiteness.

When it faded, Cyberdramon was, as expected, no longer in sight. Everyone looked around anxiously, but couldn't find anything. Only seconds later did his voice come booming around like he'd somehow accessed a broadcast channel, if there were any mics in the chamber.

"Now you'll listen, I guess." His voice was equally irritating even without his face.

"What do you want?" Katashi demanded, yelling once again.

"Well. I have something you want, and you have something I want. So, I propose that we do each other a favor and call it even."

"You know we won't listen to you."

"Then you might as well stay here for the rest of your lives while I run free visiting your families. I heard you teleportation system is not as advanced as mine. Maybe a few bugs there and you'll be stuck here forever."

Katashi wanted to shout again, but was stopped.

"He has a point." It was Kaito, his hand tapping on Katashi's shoulder. "I'm not gonna risk it because of you."

Katashi turned and saw Rikuto nodding. He then eyed the others, who said nothing, nodding in the same fashion. None of them wanted to risk never going home.

Reluctantly, Katashi said, "What do you want us to do then?"

"That's more like it, kid." Replied Cyberdramon. "Well, since you're in the Digital World, I'd like you to run an errant for me. You see, I'm not exactly in condition to travel long distance, and I've got work somewhere else."

"Just tell us what to do."

"You'll do exactly as I say." his voice sounded lower and lower. "I believe you've heard of my factory, correct? Well, let's just say that there's a terrible waste of material that I want to get back."

"That should have been blown into pieces."

"You have no idea how sturdy Chrome Digizoid is, do you? Get me enough of the metal, and I give you the little toy you want from me."

"Then why don't you just go yourself?" GrapLeomon demanded.

"You see, even I haven't memorized the whole of the Digital World's terrain, which means, I can't just pop to a random location without knowing how many backdoors it has. You, on the other hand, are the explorers. You are meant to map the world, like it or not, and more often then you'd expect, the world is not that large to map. Anyway, let's get back to the point here. I have an idea of where the Digizoid had been smuggled to, and I will give you a location map. But first, I suggest that you remember the exact number of hours I require to hack into your precious computer back in your Human World. Twenty-four hours, that's all I need. It is also recommended that you act quickly; I don't know when will I change my mind.

"So, take the deal or not?"

Katashi didn't answer, as did the others.

"I'll take that as a yes, then."

Their Digivices beeped with an irritating yet effective alarm. Checking the Digivice Katashi read a map, as Cyberdramon had told him. In there he saw a red dot, mostly representing his current location, and a beeping yellow dot, far away from the red one. The unfortunate fact was that the two dots varied by a continent's width. They'd have to travel from one end of the current continent to the other. Just the thought of that had discouraged some of them, mostly Elsa and the twins.

"Glad he didn't set a time limit for us." Kynan said. "We'll have to hurry."

"Is it true that we need to travel a continent?" Rikuto muttered. He still couldn't come in term that he was involved in stuff that unimaginable. Green sighed, but said nothing. Kaito approached him and assured him that they could make it, to which he replied that he knew; he just didn't like the idea of it.

After rounds and rounds of complain, when everyone had come in term that they had no other choice, Kynan said, "It's best that we stay here for the night and set off tomorrow." He walked a quite a long way back to the entrance, and pointed to the already darkening sky. "I guess this would be the safest place we'll ever get in the Digital World."

None of them said anything, not even a single complain, so they just started setting camp for the night.


	17. It's a trap

-It's a trap-

It didn't feel particularly unfamiliar, sleeping in a tent with the hope of nothing getting in the way. Except that, this time, instead of wild creatures or creepy little bugs, what he had to be aware of was wild Digimon, each one being capable of swallowing him in one gulp. Maybe the last part was a bit exaggerated, he thought. At least, even if there were some cannibal Digimon that would actually try to eat him, GrapLeomon was by his side. That, however, wasn't good enough as a persuasion that he could sleep soundly. Looking at a digital watch he knew that it was about one in the morning, which meant that he should at least be half-asleep or dying to get his eyes open due to sleepiness. Instead, he felt nothing, a bit like when he had to wait for someone for over two hours without having anything to do. It was starting to get to his nerves.

Beside him were the twins, deep asleep. He didn't really want to think of it this way, but he was, to be honest to himself, more than a bit jealous towards them. Kynan had volunteered to take watch for the time being, and thus was, at least, having something to do.

Katashi examined his watch again and saw that only mere seconds had passed. At this rate, it would be worse than getting involved in another battle just to survive the night without any objectives. It didn't sound right even to him, but he would say that he was bored out of his mind.

" _to put it simply, he_ _'_ _s a ticking_ _time bomb_ " this line had been tackling with his mind for more than three hours, maybe more. He couldn't help but think that it was yet another one of the traps set by Cyberdramon to keep himself safe. But it was just a bit guilty, to him at least, that he'd helped Cyberdramon complete whatever he wanted by bringing Kaoru back to Yuzuki. If anything was to happen to either one of them, he could only blame himself. Earlier on he'd tried to contact Yuzuki and warn her for the potential danger, like she'd doen the last time she had been in the Digital World, yet he hadn't been able to get a connection with her.

"What's bothering you?" he heard that as soon as he walked out of the tent. It was Kudamon, who'd been joining Kynan as the night watch. "There's no point in us staying guard if you aren't safely asleep."

"Well, I just have things in my head that keep coming to me." Katashi replied. "Not everybody can sleep at will."

"Then maybe we can switch posts?" Kynan muttered, just loud enough so that only Katashi could hear him. "I'm getting tired."

"That's…not a bad idea." Katashi uttered. He was glad that GrapLeomon wasn't with him at the time being. Had he been there, CrapLeomon would have certainly complained about Kynan focusing on his job instead of convincing Katashi to get back to rest. "I should do a fine job, I think."

"Then there's no point in talking." Muttered the older boy, walking straight towards the tent and taking off his jacket, already falling asleep, yawning. "Kudamon, take care of him."

"I can do it on my own." Replied Katashi. "I think even Kudamon needs some rest."

"What could you do without a Digimon standing watch?" Kynan replied. "It's better this way. You won't need to walk anyone up, at least. Besides, Kudamon is more than capable to keep you save. That's more or less an insurance for you." With that said, he disappeared into the tent.

It was just the two of them now, and Katashi wasn't particularly fond of the arrangement, though he admitted that having a clear objective was better than lying on the ground, wasting time while not being able to fall asleep.

"So, you feel like talking to me?" he said after about half an hour (probably more, according to his estimation) to Kudamon, who'd been quiet for all the time. He recalled something Kudamon had said about him not being suitable enough for the task, but he still wanted to at least befriend the Rookie. They were, after all, required to travel with each other for the rest of the foreseeable future.

"I'd try to stay low if I were you." Kudamon replied bluntly. "Digimon may hear us."

"Right." Katashi mumbled in a whisper. "So, no talking then."

* * *

Morning came sooner than he'd expected, though resting in a subterranean cave meant no dawn, no beautiful sun rises. The only indication that the night had passed was the gradually increasing light intensity, which he wondered if it had only been his own imagination. After about another hour (again, probably more) he could be certain as the rest of the party started getting out of the tent. The earliest was, surprisingly, Elsa, along with her partner, LayDevimon.

"So you decided you shouldn't sleep with girls?" she said lightly, raising an arm and patting his cheeks softly.

Katashi stepped back and said, "No, I just couldn't get asleep anyway." He saw LadyDevimon yarning on her side. It was a strange thing, one that he never could understand, why Elsa would have wanted to be a Tamer of a Digimon who'd been previously working for Reapermon. There were many resemblances between the two, but now that he came to think of it, LadyDevimon had been a little better. The Ultimate had a personality like her Tamer, except that she talked a lot less, which was a relief to his ears.

"Why did you even want her as a partner anyway?" he asked when there's only the two of them –Kudamon had left earlier to sleep.

"I can tell you, but then you'll have to owe me a date. Deal?"

"No thanks."

Elsa walked away for just a step, her hand still resting on Katahis' shoulder. "Maybe you can tell me something as well." She said. Noticing that he hadn't said anything or told her to just shut up, she proceeded. "Why did you even care so much for her anyway?"

"Her?"

"Don't try to act like you don't know what I'm saying." She continued. "You wouldn't want me to be obvious, would you?"

There were no responses still. It became obvious that Elsa had grown weary of this conversation, her lips stuck tightly to represent her impatience. She waited for a few more seconds to see if Katashi would finally give her an actual word to present the annoyance he'd felt or simply answer her question. When none happened, she said, a bit unwillingly and sounding a bit bored. "Oh! You're so not funny. You know what I meant, don't you? It is Yuzuki I'm talking about! What happened between you two?"

Katashi turned his head swiftly, looking for GrapLeomon (He'd decided to stay in Ultimate form for future fights.), This act, however, was stopped by another line from Elsa.

"I don't remember you as the quiet one. Just tell me what happened, and I won't speak a word to you for the rest of the day, all right? Just give me something!"

"Fine, if you want it so much!" Katashi couldn't keep his brain calm anymore. Every single word Elsa had said sounded to him like mosquito flying, at least he tried to think of it that way. But even then, there was a limit that got him mad sometimes, especially when he had so much to care about at the moment while everything around him was just tremendously wrong. Raged, he said, a bit too loud for those in sleep. "What does that have to do with you anyway?"

"I wanna know it. Can't I?"

"I don't have time for this." He said, almost in a roar. Even he himself couldn't say for sure why he felt that much rage in just a morning. Something about him was not right, he thought, or maybe Elsa was just exceedingly good at angering people. "What'd you want me to say anyway?"

"Well, now that you're separated, I suppose you'd be quite lonely." Elsa said lowly, as tough Katashi's rage was invisible to her. "I mean, aren't you jealous, at Kaoru? I know you love her as much as he does."

"If that's the only thing you care about right now, I can tell you: we're more like brother and sister. And yes, I do care for her, but not for the reason you expect. So, you'll keep quiet from now on, won't you?"

"You have my words." Surprisingly, Elsa didn't seem disappointed. She even hung a small smile on her face.

* * *

"You sure we're gonna do this?" Kaito asked after everyone else had awakened and had readied themselves to go. "This is obviously a trick."

"It is, but we don't have any other choices." As usual, Katashi was the first one to answer his question. "We've discussed this, haven't we?"

"No we haven't; you acted more like informing us what to do rather than actually asking for our opinions."

"You could have said that."

"Well, I'm sorry if you get offended. But I just want to get you to think it over again." Kaito said, sounding increasingly impatient. "It just sounds stupid, following that lunatic's words."

"But that's the only lead we have so far." Answered Katashi, sounding a bit weak. "We can't just sit here and do nothing."

"But…" before he could finish, someone intruded with a classic yet practical "stop that, you two!" turning around Kaito found that everyone else had been watching his fight against Katashi. Some of them looked uncaring, particularly Elsa and her partner, who was yet to be trusted as a teammate. Blue walked up, slightly shook Kaito's hand, and said, "Just let it go, okay?"

Kaito was sure that he'd formed quite a bond with the dragon Digimon. Whenever he heard his voice, it always felt like someone had done some magical tricks that made his heart soften. This was no exception. In a weird way, it could be said that Blue could emotionally calm him. Still, he wasn't ready to admit that he was wrong, because he didn't think he was. "I just don't want to waste everyone's time doing something impossible."

It was then that he discovered the one who'd interrupted them earlier was Ren. She looked like the only one who actually thought about others out of the six, and that was another reason Kaito rethought his way of thinking.

One her side was Rikuto, subtly holding her arm by the wrist and shook his head slightly at Kaito. It was now crystal-clear to Kaito that there was no way he could convince anyone to change the plan.

"I just don't want to take risks; what if nothing happens in the end? Then all our efforts would be wasted!"

"That's something we've all accepted gladly before we came here." Said Valkyrimon, stepping in between Kaito and Katashi. "And I do think that all of us came here voluntarily, which means that we are all ready to accept that all our work might result in nothing."

"Count me out, please." Elsa uttered. "I didn't join for getting nothing." Next to her, Kynan poked her slightly by her shoulder, indicating that it'd be best if she kept her mouth shut tightly.

"But…" Kaito was interrupted once again before he could say anything. Katashi had somehow walked closer to him, patting him by the shoulder and saying, "You have doubts; I understand that. Even I sometimes think that all we're doing would result in nothing, but we can't just let it stop us from doing what we must do. Honestly, right now the only thought that keeps me going is that once we're done here, we can get out of this mess once and for all, and everyone else could be safe and sound." Kaito tilted his head, looking away. "Please, everybody here is gonna go through this together. You don't have to worry."

Kaito didn't say anything. But as the party left, he followed.

* * *

"We haven't really walked a long way." Said Kynan when Elsa made the suggestion of resting for a while for the third time in the day. The group was now on their way to the destination given by Cyberdramon, with completely no other way to prevent him from doing anything. And, like Kaito had been through before, the uncertainty was slowly eating away their will and physical strength. All these, combined with the overwhelmingly scorching sunlight, made the request seemed overly reasonable.

But Kynan saw it as the other way around. "If we stop now, it might take us another few days just to catch up with the schedule."

"Speak for yourself. You're tired too, aren't you?" retorted Elsa, proceeding to state the fact that Kynan had already discarded his jacket, tying it around his waist, wearing only a vest. "You sure you aren't going down, survivalist?"

"We'll continue." Kudamon said, glancing at Elsa. "And if you aren't feeling well, remaining silent helps."

It took only another few minutes before she started to rant again. Everyone had taken that as granted for quite some time, and had figured out their own ways to keep that as just some sort of irrelevant background noise. Despite that, Elsa never really stopped complaining. It was as if she had been programmed to do so compulsively every once in a few seconds, without actually needing actual results to support her action.

Another few hours passed, and Elsa, as usual, complained again. This time, however, someone agreed with her.

"I do think she's a point this time." Said Rikuto, sitting on a boulder that hardly fitted his size. There was really not much to see –sand, sand, and still sand. Sometimes he wondered if they had even actually moved for some distance, or had just been circling the whole time. But of course, he had been keeping that to himself; a notion that didn't bring hope was something they needed the least.

"Yeah, I'm tired too." Katashi added, sitting on the sandy ground beside the boulder, since the boulder wasn't large enough for two people. The ground was hot, scorching his butt even when there was quite a protection given by his pants, but he sat down anyway. His legs had been screaming for a moment's break, even if the price of that was to sacrifice part of his skin.

"But we haven't really moved much." Kynan said.

Almost immediately, before he'd even finished his sentence, Liollmon interrupted. "We won't move any further without some rest, you know."

"Just for a moment, please?" Ren added, looking for the nearest place to sit down. she had to admit that even though she'd already admired the Digi-Destined, she found it more and more harsh being one herself. Still, her idolization kept her motivated, feeling as though someone had been watching over her and that she didn't want the imaginary observer be disappointed.

Next to Katashi, the two Dracomon lay down as well, tilting slightly towards the boy such that their heads rested on his shoulders. Kaito thought for a moment that he should prevent them from doing so, but cancelled the idea since he, as well, was exhausted and that the expression of the half-asleep Dracomon was just too peaceful that he didn't want to trash their moment. Besides, Katashi didn't really seem offended or annoyed by them.

Seeing that over half of the team had already made up their minds, Kynan said simply, "Fine then. But we can't stay here all day."

"Who said anything about staying here all day?" it was LadyDevimon, walking past the boy as she joined her partner. "Plus, since when have you become our official leader?"

"Someone has to assume the role." Replied Kudamon, "And I think Kynan had been doing well so far."

"If by that you mean pushing everyone to their extremes, well, of course you're doing fine." Elsa uttered.

Kudamon gave her another glance, prepared to talk, but was stopped by Kynan, who simply whispered. "Maybe she's right."

They had never been so quiet for such an extended period of time. None of them really talked much to one another during the break, without commands of doing so. It would appear that they were too tired to even chat with one another. Time was flying fast, without their acknowledgement. A moment of rest was longer than an entire century to them now.

* * *

"Alright, we ought to go now." Said Katashi as he rose. He still felt the heat running through his body, especially on his head, as though someone had put a heated frying pan on top of it.

The others rose with respective speed, and no sooner were they ready that they needed to move on.

Taking a step forward, he felt something wrong already. A moment earlier, when he was still trying to get his feet to walk, the ground had been soft and almost as silky as some of the finest dresses he had seen, but now he felt as though he'd just stepped on something solid, something that wouldn't change its shape because of the force exerted by his footstep. It didn't feel like sand at all.

"What's the matter?" asked Green, flying by.

"Did anyone of you feel it as well?" Katashi asked. The party had stopped because of him, giving him questioning looks. "Something about the ground doesn't feel right."

"You act like you've just stepped on a mine." Commented Kaito. It was weird, even to himself, that he would show a face of kindness towards Katashi. A few days ago they had been having verbal fights almost everytime they met.

"Well, I do feel like something's not right, but not that serious."

"Then move on."

Kaito heard a scream as soon as they'd finished the conversation. It came from behind him, and it was certainly not some sort of joke. Turning behind, he could find no trace of Katashi. The sand around his feet started to gain a current, running towards a same direction, towards where Katashi had once stood. Kneeling down and examining the sand, he found a hole that had already been half-covered by the running sand.

"Everybody stop!" he yelled without looking back. Assuming that they had all heard him, he said, "Katash has fallen into that hole!"

"What?" Liollmon was the first to arrive. "Then what're you doing here? Go get him!" without even waiting for a response, the Rookie dashed into the hole, and the sand rendered him invisible in a matter of seconds.

"We can't just jump in there." Kaito mumbled. He dared not turn away from the hole for fear that he might forget where it was. But the reality was that he couldn't gain control over everything, and seconds later he felt a pulling force being exerted on his legs, and then he, too, started to fall. Struggling while waving his limbs aimlessly, trying to shake of the grip, he found himself being pulled by something hairy and moist. It was disgusting, but he didn't have the time to express that feeling. He saw the others reaching towards him as the pulling force strengthened itself, and he extended his arms, scratching the ground for support.

"Kai!" He heard Rikuto shout. And for a moment he thought he'd be saved from the sand, when his hand touched Rikuto's. Yet, before he could hold tight to it, he slipped and was pulled farther away from the others. The only thing he could see before entering the total darkness was the others falling like him.

* * *

Though there was the impulsive desire to scream, Kaito chose to spend his energy struggling, swinging his limbs vehemently and kicking around as fierce as he could. The result, discouraging but expectable, was futile. Whoever or whatever was dragging him down the surface was a relentless one, and wouldn't let him go without a fight. He could no longer see anything but absolute darkness, but his ears were receiving way too much audio than he would've wanted to. The result of the fierce dragging was that his ears now rang with almost a thousand different forms of noise, all of which were depressing than welcome.

When he finally came to a stop, and the thing had let him go, the first thing he did was to such for a wall. The smoothness and moisture he felt with his right hand touching the wall indicated that the subterranean environment was more artificial than natural. At least, someone had already dug the tunnel before he got dragged into it.

The first thing that popped into his mind, however, was to find the others, if they even had been dragged to the same place. Searching without his proper eyesight had proved to be a major drawback, but that sounded better than sitting there doing nothing to him. Slowly adjusting to the darkness, he could barely make out the outlines of objects. Nothing, however, were there to see. It only made sense that he went deeper through the tunnel in hopes of finding the others, though he really wanted to just go back up. He couldn't even tell which way was the one leading to the surface.

Walking with his hand closely in touch with the wall so as not to get lost, he slowly and silently crept forward. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he should keep as quiet as possible, so he did, albeit he really wanted to just shout out names and see if anyone replies.

* * *

"What is it this time?" Katashi whispered to himself. The last thing he remembered was being dragged into this dungeon-like structure, and that he heard the others screaming not soon after he went blind with the absence of light. It was quite eerie an experience, feeling mobile air while being held in an underground facility –someone built it with a purpose, he knew.

The force that had dragged him there had long been gone, and he was more than thankful to that. Hesitantly he moved on, hoping not to get too astray. There was no point in exploring a cave such that the others could worry about you sick somewhere else, though he was quite sure that he wasn't the only one being down there.

It didn't take long before something bumped into him, knocking him off balance. When he turned and got to his feet, he could hear breathing from behind him. Someone was there, and he hoped it would not be a hungry one.

"Glad to see you're fine." came the voice. It was Liollmon's.

"Liollmon? What're you doing here and, how did you see me?"

"I've better night vision than you, remember?" he pushed his voice as low as possible, but it still sounded like it had been amplified with a talker. The echo kind of made it worse.

"Where're the others?" Katashi replied, also in a whisper. "And we need a plan to get out of here, fast.'

"I don't know about the others." Said Liollmon. "But they shouldn't be too far away. At least they should be waiting for you to come back up. You fell into a hole!"

"Yeah, I kinda figured that out." Katashi sighed. He was quite surprised to find himself still capable of retaining a sense of humor. "Let's hope the others didn't follow as well."

His hope was immediately and officially broken after he heard more bodies dropping next to him. Judging from the tone of the grunts, he could tell that at least Elsa was among the new arrivals.

"I hate this place." She uttered after coughing a little. It would seem that she had completely no intention of keeping a low profile.

Another voice was identified. "Don't go with us in the first place if you complain about everything!" it was Valkyrimon's.

"Maybe you can show me how to appreciate this kind of nonsense." Elsa whispered back, receiving a hush from Katashi. Despite knowing that he was there, she still acted like as if she was alone there and paid no attention to the others, not bothering to keep her voice as low as possible.

"We need a plan to get out." Suggested Valkyrimon. "We're separated from the others."

"That's more than obvious." Elsa's voice sounded a bit more irritating than usual with the echoes. "You worried about her?"

"I have no trouble trusting Ren. But you, that's a different story." The mostly reserved Mega said. "At least she could take care of herself."

"Would you just drop it!" Katashi muttered, annoyed. "Now's not the best time to fight!"

"Well, if you want to stay that way, I'm fine." Elsa uttered, so fast that she appeared more reciting a line than actually speaking. "I wasn't the one to pick up fights, after all."

 _Actually, you were._ Katashi had an urge to say that, but kept it to himself. There was no reason to shatter the already shattered group. "So stay quiet and we'll go find the others." He said. Though it was just a simple sentence, some thing felt wrong with him. At least, that's what Liollmon heard. Katashi sounded more like Smith by the moment, and he wasn't sure if that's a good change.

* * *

When Kaito came to a stop, he was immobilized by what he saw, literally. Despite the darkness, it appeared clear to him that some sort of gross, gooey substance had prevented him from proceeding. All his limbs were bond except for his left hand, and he didn't feel all too optimistic. For a moment, the stony walls of the hole seemed to have molten into a slimy paste, sticking everything that touched it.

Struggling, he let out several low grunts and tried to push himself free of the disgusting substance, but couldn't. It seemed that the harder he tried, the tighter he got himself into.

When finally his own voice wasn't the only sound present, his heart skipped, so fast that it could almost give him a heart attack. Something was approaching, from behind, and he didn't have any means to get out of its way. With his pulse getting stronger and stronger for every passing second, he endeavored to keep himself undiscovered. Letting the thing behind him go would be hard, but not impossible. He would just need to stay close to the wall, and hopefully that should be enough to get away from the creature behind him.

And he did, but that only made his fear worse. Having adapted to the darkness, he could make out shapes of different objects now, and what he saw immediately threatened to dig his heart out of his ribcage.

It was an eight-legged creature –Digimon, preferentially –that crept along the tunnel, and he could only give one logical explanation for the gooey substance and an eight-legged creature.

What's worse was that, since there was really no way to turn his Digivice off, a sentence sounded. "Dokugumon, Champion, Virus type."


	18. Down in the dungeon

-Down in the dungeon-

He woke up and felt a pair of hands holding his tightly. For a moment he don't know what was going on, where he was and why he was there. Getting up slowly and a bit unsteadily, he saw black, silky hair covering those arms, and it couldn't have been more obvious to him.

"Yuzuki?" he mumbled, sitting straight. It was then that he realized he was on a bed in a hospital, and that Yuzuki had fallen asleep by his side. It would appear that she had been there for quite a long time.

Hesitantly he placed one hand on her head, his fingers running down her hair, feeling her presence.

It was a little more than subtle that Yuzuki had felt him. Stirring a little she rose up as well. Her eyes were surrounded with deep shadows and she looked almost more tired than Kaoru was at the moment. It would be reasonable to say that she, instead of Kaoru, needed the bed more.

"You've wakened." She mumbled, her eyes obviously struggling to stay open.

Kaoru didn't say anything, simply nodding to represent his acknowledgement. Yuzuki leaned close to him, and he didn't resist. A moment later they were close together, with Yuzuki resting her head on Kaoru's shoulder, her cheek brushing against his rough patient gown. She then place her hand on the other shoulder of Kaoru, her fingers running up so that her palm was at Kaoru's neck in a matter of seconds. Kaoru needed not anything to know what she wanted, and he leaned forward as well, so that a moment later they were hugging each other.

"I was so worried about you." Yuzuki mumbled right next to Kaoru's ear, her hand holding the boy firm, as if he would disappear any second once she let go.

"I'm…sorry." That's what Kaoru said at first. He pulled Yuzuki for perhaps just an inch closer before they parted. Then he asked, "Is this real?"

"Of course it is."

"Then…all the things I've done, they're real, aren't they?"

Yuzuki sat frozen, staring him in the eye. Kaoru continued. "I…everything that happened, it's because of me…"

"Don't say that."

"But it's true, isn't it? I did all the things, caused all the destruction, and even tried to…" Kaoru stopped there as if he had just choked and needed some air, though he clearly needed none. His eyes begin to water, making them slightly shinier than they already did. He had several attempts to speak, opening his mouth halfway, but always stopped when it he wanted to make a sound.

Yuzuki approached him a bit, holding him by his wrist. "Don't blame yourself! You couldn't remember anything, and did everything under Cyberdramon's manipulation. It's not your…"

"But I did." Kaoru replied, tears running down his checks slowly. "I…I tried to kill you, and…and, I…"

"Don't say it anymore." Yuzuki demanded, but couldn't stop him. She knew all too well that bringing old issues up would only lead to emotional breakdown, like she had done, and she most definitely didn't want that to happen on Kaoru.

"I killed TigerVespamon!" he said finally before fully bursting into tears. "The only one I could call a friend…he's dead because of me…" he couldn't say anything anymore, falling weakly to the front. Yuzuki caught him before he dropped off the bed, and pulled him close to her, allowing him to bury his head in her chest as his sadness materialized. She couldn't say anything either, because nothing could change the situation. She just sat there, waiting until Kaoru could get better.

It took only a moment before Kaoru's cry faded. Though appearing weak, he pushed away Yuzuki for a little and set himself sitting straight again, though his eyes were still glistening from the residue of the tears. He started speaking again, his voice muffed. "I can't keep on like this."

"You don't have to force yourself if you're not ready." Said Yuzuki.

"Crying won't solve anything; I knew it." he replied, yet traces of tears could still be found around his eyes. "I…I don't know what to do."

"Then just live your life." Said Yuzuki. Somehow she didn't even know that she'd say something like that. It must have been something she'd heard of from some random philosophers during classes. Even she herself was a bit embarrassed by saying that. "Anyway, let's change the subject, shall we? Now that you've woken, I think we should check you out of the hospital as soon as possible."

Kaoru didn't seem cheered up, but he replied with a positive answer. There was no need to bring up the sad things, he knew, but he just couldn't throw them behind and pretend nothing had ever happened. At least, now that he had an excuse to do something else, he wanted to get distracted as much as possible. Lazily he crawled back onto the bed and opened the locker to its left, taking out pieces of clothes.

"Something wrong?" Yuzuki asked when she found out that Kaoru had been staring at her for quite some time.

"Would you mind to look aside?" Kaoru said. "I want to change."

"Of course!" Yuzuki said, embarrassed by her ignorance as she turned around.

* * *

It didn't make much sense to him, but he followed Yuzuki's lead anyway. Crossing streets that seemed all too alien when that was supposed to be the community he'd been living in was kind of strange. He felt as though he'd never been a legal resident there.

Another thing that bothered Kaoru was his clothes. Though he was glad not having to wear the stupid patient gown, he really couldn't help but think that others were staring at him, whose shirt had been so worn that it resembled more a vest than a t-shirt, and jeans being so torn that his knees were easily observable.

"Where're we going, anyway?" that was the second time he asked, as well as the second time he received a "You'll know it when we're there."

* * *

He knew where he'd gone to only during the last few minutes of the trip. They'd entered a building, taken an elevator that had kept them waiting for an eternity. "You're taking me to your house?"

"Not exactly my house. But my home, yes." He hadn't seen her smile so genuinely for quite some time.

Before Kaoru could say another word, they had already reached their destination, with Yuzuki busy handling a large yet plainly decorated wooden door.

"The lock's not been working properly lately." She mumbled, knocking and twisting the knob lightly until a snap sound could be heard.

"What're you waiting for? C'mon in!" she said with an explicit trace of excitement binding her words as she gripped Kaoru's arm and started pulling him into the dining room.

"You don't have to…" he said lightly, shaking off her grip. It reminded him too much of the time when he had been so depressed that she had had to practically drag him to keep up with the others. That was about the time when he had started developing romantic feelings for her. "Anyway, why are we here?"

Yuzuki hesitated for a while, as though her enthusiasm had gone with a blink of an eye. Still, she didn't look upset, at least not as she'd done for the past year. "Well, I really should've asked you first, but…" she paused, which only made Kaoru more curious. "I thought, well, that since you didn't have anywhere to go, maybe I could ask you to live with my family." When she had finished she sucked in a deep breath as if she'd been put in water for more than a minute. Kaoru simply stared at her.

"Well, what'd you think?" she asked eventually.

Kaoru said nothing, like she'd expected. He was speechless, but not because of his cold nature. "I…" he started something he could not finish. "I don't…I mean…I don't know."

Though apparently confused, Yuzuki could tell that Kaoru's lack of speech was only due to the unexpected news. "Don't worry. Mum and dad have already approved it."

"Thanks." Kaoru replied. He had always sounded like he was whispering whenever he spoke to someone, but she'd gotten used to it. Reluctantly he walked a few steps into the living room and sat down on the couch, having gotten tired of walking all the way from the hospital to there, but stood up in an instant, dusting his shirt. "Sorry, I…"

"Never mind that." Yuzuki said. "Mum has bought you some new clothes. You can just go and take a shower now."

Kaoru looked at himself, examining his physical appearance before receiving a large bag from Yuzuki. It appeared so bulbous that he suspected something alive might reside in there. Silently he approached the bathroom, pushing the wooden door open before Yuzuki said to him.

"Wait a minute. Maybe a bath would be better for you."

"No, I…"

"No 'no's here. The bath tub is probably the only wonder here." She insisted.

Seeing no other options, he simply let out a low grunt, indicating his acknowledgement before closing the door.

* * *

Kaito thought his heart had stopped for a moment as soon as his Digivice started to beep and shine. It caught the Dokugumon's attention effortlessly, and he knew he'd be doomed for sure. He really hoped that either Blue or Green, or both, were by his side at the moment.

It didn't take long before the spider-like Digimon approached him and released him from the spider web. Though that wasn't exactly what Kaito had expected to happen, he decided that he should seize the chance to run, and as soon as he started to sprint, he got tripped by a rock, falling to the hard earth, His face was scratched, he could feel it.

And then came the most disturbing part when hairy legs started to appear from virtually everywhere and dragged him deeper into the dungeon. As though as he tried, he could not help screaming "No!" as he got pulled all the way into the center of the hole.

* * *

"You all right?" Ren asked Rikuto when he got up. She had counted the members of her group, including Kynan, Rikuto, Blue and Green, and Kudamon. She nearly missed LadyDevimon, who had only made her presence known by stepping in between the girl and the others.

"I'm fine." Answered Rikuto, stretching the back of his head. "But where're the others? And, Kai! He got dragged down here too. I saw him!"

"Then waste no time here and start looking for the others." Kudamon suggested coldly.

"If we even know where we are." LadyDevimon interrupted.

"Then we just fight our way out, should that happen." Said Kudamon, already on the move, leaving the others lagging behind.

* * *

After this day, Kaito could officially declare that spiders were the worst creatures he'd ever come across, and would start to shiver just by seeing them, though it was given that he hadn't really liked the little eight-legged creeps in the first place.

Being captured against his will, he had nothing to do but worry. One thing he remembered about spiders was that they ate only after they had digested their prey first. Hopefully the Dokugumon wouldn't do the same. Just the thought of that gave him chills, if he hadn't had any yet.

It didn't take long before he realized that he'd left the tunnel and into a more wide-open space. Then he heard the disturbing buzzing noise again. Needless to see for himself, he knew he had been taken to the gathering place of a bunch of Dokugumon, given the extensive feeling of their hairy legs and the decreasing in speed on the one who'd brought him there. With no means to fight, he could only pray that the others would find him soon enough. Being decomposed before being eaten was an ending that he would not accept.

There were the noise, like a birthday party some of his classmates would throw. The increasing amount of the buzzing noise resembled the cheers that some crazy teenagers would make during a music concert.

There was a moment that he actually wanted to give up. It was far too impossible to get out of there, even with the help of the others, not to mention that they might not have stayed behind for him. He thought of Katashi, who should have been dragged into the hole as well. Only if he had taken his words seriously, they wouldn't have ended up in this way. Despair overcame him, and for a moment he could sense that his eyes were actually watering. He was afraid.

But the noise ceased right after that moment. Complete silence had taken the underground cave again. In the midst of that, sharp, clear tapping sounds could be heard. It sounded a bit like his mother walking in high-heels, only that it was more frequent than any human being could walk in such shoes.

Opening his eyes, he saw that the Dokugumon had arranged in an orderly fashion, dividing into two perfectly straight lines and clearing a broad path as the source of the tapping came. It was another spider-like Digimon, only that this one had a humanoid body on top of the eight legs, and that a very clear sense of superiority could be seen from her posture. And yes, that was a she, he could tell by the look of the humanoid part.

"Arukenimon, Ultimate, Virus type." His Digivice identified the Digimon.

And when she came close enough to Kaito, who'd been immobilized for quite some time, she reached out her hands and carried the boy over her shoulders, with apparent disagreement of the other Dokugumon, who shouted vehemently over and over again. A simple glare of the female Digimon was more than enough to quiet them down. That, however, didn't calm Kaito down. He could only imagine that they were arguing over whom to eat him, and obviously the queen was the only one with a choice, and she chose herself.

* * *

Traveling silently with Elsa was something he had never imagined before. He always had a compulsive urge to look behind and see if she had gotten lost and disappeared. The silent made him nervous. There was no way she could stay that way, though she did.

Another curious thing was that Katashi kept thinking about Yuzuki, in the Human World. It sounded unnatural, given the circumstances, but his mind kept drifting back to the girl. He almost wondered if anything would happen to her and Kaoru. The previous speech made by Cyberdramon had made his mind going off frequently, and he'd rather forget about that than to get distracted during these crucial moments.

"What's bothering you?" Valkyrimon asked, apparently noticed that he had been acting strange.

"Nothing, really. Just my friends back home. I shouldn't think of them too much, since I'll get back eventually. It's just that I can't keep them out of my mind."

"I honestly don't know how that feels." The Mega replied. "I never really have close friends before I met Ren."

"Well, given your abilities and traits, I'd say that you could make friends easily, if you tried." Katashi said. "As for me, I guess I'll just have to take the thought of mine as a motivation to move on. If we failed here, they would be doomed, too, right?"

The next response wasn't one that he'd expected. Elsa, at the back of the roll, actually hushed them. Turning back they saw the mostly carefree girl shrug, expressing her annoyance. She then placed an index finger right in the middle of her tightly shut lips, gesturing for them to quiet.

"What's wrong?" Liollmon asked in a whisper.

She didn't answer, merely pointing towards the front. It was only then that Katashi realized something he should have observed long ago –illumination. Fragile streams of light came waving towards them from where they're headed, brightening the cave a little. It also made the mostly plain walls seemed more or less textured. If they had been just looking for a way to get out, they'd have been satisfied, rejoiced even. But right now, with the responsibility to look for the others, an exit wasn't really an option.

Except, that wasn't an exit at all. Tiptoeing and breathing lightly, the group approached the source of the light, hiding behind walls so for coverage, though they hadn't really seen much enemies yet. The first thing that came into Katashi's sight were the over abundance of Dokugumon, all looking sick and, to him, disgusting, making some sort of strange noise. He counted that there were about ten to fifteen of them in total, which was a relief once he compared the number to that of the Kramps, mentioned by Takumi.

"Don't they seem a bit too…organized?" Elsa whispered right behind his ear, startling him a little. She had a point, however, as the spider-like Digimon slowly moved in unison, clearing a path for whoever was there to walk through.

That was about the time when he got a glimpse of something right in the middle of the crowd –a human, wearing a grey shirt, with silvery white hair.

"Isn't that Kaito over there?" Liollmon whispered. Correct or not, Katashi gave him a hush, not even bothering to look back at the Rookie.

"And what're they doing with him?" It was Elsa who spoke this time. "And what are we doing here?"

"You don't want to go charging right into them without a plan, do you?" Valkyrimon said, her voice low but clear. "We observe before we act."

"And what if they'd eaten him before we moved?"

"Don't speak such nonsense; we'll never let that happen."

"Maybe I can venture a little." Liollmon suggested, moving closer towards the horde of spiders.

"Wait a second!" Katashi had to remind himself that he could only whisper, and that did nothing to stop his partner.

"I'm the smallest here. Maybe they won't notice me." With that said, the Rookie was gone, blended into the spiders.

"There's nothing we can do now but wait." Valkyrimon sighed.

"Let's hope he'll make it back." Elsa added. That was when they saw something else as well. A giant, more deformed the Digimon appeared from behind the walls, apparently having used another junction the group hadn't made out yet. She walked with her eight legs digging into the ground every time she made a move. She would've been a perfect Digimon for farmers, suggested Elsa, though none of her teammates seemed to be in the mood to get the joke.

* * *

"How do we escape when we've found everyone?" Blue asked. Only the slight difference in his pitch could identify him as Blue, not his twin brother. "I think we're getting lost."

"We'll figure that out." Replied Rikuto. _I hope_. He added silently.

"Whatever you say, just blast a hole at the ceiling would do." LadyDevimon uttered.

"Then we'll have to make a plan to escape as well as not being buried alive." Kudamon said, apparently annoyed. "There's got to be other ways out, channels that allow for ventilation. There's air here."

"Then keep focusing on our current goal." Kynan interrupted. "No point thinking about the escape when we haven't even completed the first step of the plan." He turned to LadyDevimon. "We aren't going anywhere until we're all here."

There was a sudden noise that halted their advance. Looking back, to the origin of the noise, the party could see nothing at first. Then, slowly, a shape appeared, and was moving towards the party rapidly, with increasing speed. By then most of them had known that fighting would be the only option left.

With an unsettling hissing sound and the few, barely audible words "Poison Thread!" the group knew that they had been targeted, and leaned as close to the walls as possible as streams of white, fluidly substance flew past them midair, solidifying once it hit a wall, spreading a network shape.

"Baby Breath!" both Dracomon reacted at once, illuminating the tunnel as the flaming balls contacted their target and triggered a mild explosion. In the mist of the burst, a silhouette of a spider could be seen, and soon it was gone.

"It's coming for us!"

"Bullet Whirlwind!" the mostly calm voice of Kudamon sounded as he dashed forward, spinning, hitting the Dokugumon with his cartridge spinning, knocking the Champion off balance as it clawed on the top of the tunnel, falling. It didn't take a second before it landed back first, its limbs waving in the air, struggling to get its body to the right position.

"Things are gonna get ugly." Uttered LadyDevimon as she approached the fallen Digimon. "Black Wing!" she uttered, her voice low but powerful. In the absence of light she impaled the poor Digimon with a long sharp spike, ending its struggle once and for all.

"What'd you do that for?" Rikuto demanded, whispering. "It was disabled!"

"The terrain here does not do us favors." The Ultimate replied calmly. "We needed to end this fight as soon as possible."

"But you killed…"

"So that no backups would be called forth." She said coldly, glancing at Rikuto with her murderous gaze. "If we move fast."

"Then we move fast." Said Kynan, already on the move.

"You can't just kill someone like that!" Rikuto protested. A hand landed on his shoulder –Ren's, he had no doubt. Looking behind, barely recognizing her face, he reluctantly moved on with the others as the girl shook her head subtly.

* * *

Things weren't going too well when they reached a larger, more open section. That was the source of illumination earlier, and they had been right following that path, except that instead of leading them into an opening, it led them into the center of the entire maze-like hole.

The worst was that, instead of present reunions, they found the others there battling breathlessly.

"The King of Fist!" came GrapLeomon's roar, right before a Dokugumon got thrown towards their direction.

Using the little time they got, Rikuto stepped into the battlefield without hesitation. If the others were there, Kaito could be there as well. He had no doubt. Despite the others yelling at him, calling him to stay calm and make plans first, he had already gotten into the middle of the battle. And there he did find Kaito, who had been covered in the spider web such that relative motion was restricted. He was still struggling to get those away from his body.

"Green, Blue!" Rikuto yelled at the Dracomon. They, like their partners, ignored the others' warnings without second thoughts and flew straight towards where Rikuto was, blasting a few Dokugumon out of the way in the process.

"Help me cut those loose." Rikuto uttered, frantically ripping the strings, trying to get his brother free.

"What're you doing here?" Kaito said lowly. He hadn't been able to use his voice well since he had been trapped.

"Saving you, of course." The Dracomon had arrived, each slashing the web with their sharp claws, such that in no time, Kaito was freed from the bond.

"Thanks." He said. "But it doesn't seem that things are going to look good."

Things were, indeed, not in their favor. Just a few meters away was the battle between GrapLeomon and several of Dokugumon, who kept spraying strings and strings of mucus, in the hopes of immobilizing the Ultimae, who swiftly evaded all the attacks, but got hit on the side of his stomach by an unseen strike, falling to his side while still getting to his knees with one hand supporting him, holding him from falling while the other quickly swung in swift motions to balance himself.

The cave seemed to be occupied by more and more of the spiders, and while all the Dokugumon seemed to be fighting to their deaths, the single Arukenimon did not do much at all, simply circling the room slowly, watching the battle without interfering.

"So, we're all here, aren't we?" said Ren as she approached the others. "How did you end up like this?"

"Well, we walked all the way here, and then…" Katashi replied, having just dodged an incoming blast of spider web. "We made a little mistake and they discovered us." he ducked to the ground again as his partner leapt right over him and punched one Dokugumon in the face.

"No time to chat now." Not far behind, the voice of Valkyrimon could be heard. She had a little smile on her face for just a millisecond when her sight first lay on her partner, but then reality got her back into business as she drew her blade and readied herself for any hostile attack.

"Alright." Ren uttered, taking a few cards out of her card deck without even looking at them. Confidently she swiped the cards by the side of her Digivice one by one, saying their names as though they were magic spells. "Defense plug-in B, Speed plug-in A!"

"Baby Breath!" the Dracomon fired balls of bright, orange flames as they advanced, Kaito and Rikuto staying behind them as they blasted a path out to regroup with the others.

Nearby was Chirinmon, rushing towards his foes fearlessly and slamming them with his heavily armed body and kicked those who had dodged the attack with his stone-hard hooves. A little U-turn and he had already swiped numerous of Dokugumon out of the way. But that was not even adequate for the situation. There were simply too much enemies and two few allies. The power of unity was displayed here by the horde of Dokugumon as they outnumbered the Destined, doing minor damage with great repetition such that they were worn out sooner than ever.

It was only when a high-pitched scream came echoing the hall did they stopped the fight, turning towards the source of the scream.

Arukenimon shouted again as the fight stopped. Next to her was Valkyrimon, her crossbow held firmly in her grip, pointing at the head of the Ultimate. A bolt could be seen inserted on her left shoulder.

"Don't move, or she dies!" Valkyrimon roared. The Dokugumon were surprisingly obedient. "I think now is the time when we talk things through."


	19. A moment of peace

-A moment of peace-

It was like something Katashi had seen only on TV, where everybody used death threats to get what they wanted. He had always thought of that as barbaric, but when it happened right here, right now, he didn't really feel mush of a problem, given that it was the only way they had survived the frenzy deep down in the dungeon.

"Move, and she dies!" Valkyrimon reinforced her statement.

"Whatever you want from me, you can't get it." Arukenimon whispered, her voice surprisingly calm. "You can't fight all of us at once. I shall only be too happy to see you being torn into pieces."

"You won't live long enough to see that, I fear." Valkyrimon whispered right beside her ear, her words felt as rough as solid. "Do not think for a moment that I wouldn't kill you. And you should see that, keeping you hostage is actually working. See your minions there? They dare not act against my demand. You are helpless."

"Is she always as bad ass as that?" Rikuto muttered once he reached for Ren. All he received was an elbow to his chest.

As expected, Arukenimon didn't show any sign of weakness at first, trusting her minions to do what she would have thought be necessary. The Dokugumon, nevertheless, seemed quite attached to their queen, and did nothing, as Valkyrimon had suggested. Realizing slowly that there wasn't even a choice, Arukenimon lowered her arm, which had been close to the crossbow incase she needed to fight Valkyrimon. In the end, she valued her live over her pride.

"What'd you want from us?" she said, hissing like a sneak than a spider, her facial features twisted into something that could only be seen on a crazy person.

"You could ask you the same! A reason!" Elsa shouted. "It's you that dragged us here, not vice versa."

"Maybe we should try to be a little more friendly." Katashi whispered beside her. She ignored him.

"Reason?" Arukenimon seemed to be frustrated by the word. It would seem that the word had done her great disrespect. "We need no reason hunting!"

"Hunting?" Katashi uttered.

"What else could it be?"

"So it was their hunting ground back there," Chirinmon said, approaching the Ultimate as the group moved on. "Never really heard of that before."

"Of course not! Only a year ago, everywhere was basically territories of the Kramps, until they just disbanded for no reason." Arukenimon almost yelled saying so. It appeared to be her style of speech.

Katashi remembered the term. The Kramps had been a bandit group, kind of like the Dokugumon there, right in front of him. He knew that the old Destined had taken cared of the group a year before, or so he'd heard. He couldn't be more delighted when he just acquired the knowledge that Arukenimon had once lived under the bandits' supremacy. It just helped them a lot.

"And you know who beat them a year before?" he yelled, making it loud enough that even the echoes sounded solid. Everyone could hear him.

Arukenimon stared at him with a questioning look. "Do not try to fool us!"

"I'm not! Seriously!" he replied. "I know who took care of your problem."

"Then say it!"

"Well, names would be meaningless to you. But the importance is that, I'm a friend of them, and so are the others here."

"And how can I know if we can trust you?"

"They raided the Fortress, and then there was an explosion from the factory nearby, and then they were gone for good. I assume you have heard of the same? Well, I can add a little extra, I guess. Have you any idea who or what saved your business?"

"Never heard of them."

"That's six humans and six Digimon, working together such that the gang was dissolved like ice. I can even name them, but then again, names would be meaningless to you if you haven't learnt of them before." He was starting to get a hang of it, negotiating. Though not having lied yet, he had the feeling that he wasn't acting as passionate as he should be. Maybe Arukenimon would just be grateful and listen to him, and take them back out there as a gift for the old Destined's friends. The other outcome, the one he dreaded, would be that the Spider-human mutant trusted him not, and just carry on the fight with them. There was no way they could get out alive by means of fighting.

Fortunately, the immediate reaction of Arukenimon wasn't an offensive one. To be more precisely, she wasn't even giving responses yet, apparently deep in thoughts. The battle would be over in several minutes if she really wanted to fight, but Valkyrimon by her side was a reminder that she could not risk fighting.

"Suppose I believe you, why should we let you go?" she demanded.

"You're grateful to the ones who got you rid of the Kramps, right? You probably wouldn't want them to feel bad by letting their friends being consumed in a dungeon." This was the first time Katashi was actually clarifying his demand. It seemed a bit too rash, having just gained a little of Arukenimon's trust, but they had had to be hurry in the first place. There wouldn't be anyone to save the world –both worlds –if they just got perished. "Can't you use that as a manner of thanking the Digi-Destined?"

"But what if you're lying?"

"Of course we're not lying!" Katashi had to make that specifically emotional. He would seem better that way, as someone who just wanted to leave, but not someone who was trying every means possible to trick Arukenimon, though he was. "And you know that, don't you? You would have done something about it if you had thought that we're lying!"

That seemed to flitter Arukenimon a little. She draw her body back, distancing herself form the Destined such that she had a better view of her personal army. The crooked smirk on her face indicating positive feedbacks.

"You stay quiet and do nothing." Katashi whispered to the others. "We seem to be getting out of here in no time."

Somebody nodded in agreement, while others, mostly the twins and Elsa, gave a shrug. They did not, however, voice their own opinion.

"What do you want from us, travelers?" Arukenimon was sitting on a stone high above the normal ground, suspended by just a few stone pillars. Amazingly the stone-throne was able to withstand her weight, not even nudging. "We can let you leave here, given that you never return again as prey. Food is growing fewer and fewer, and I need my people fed."

"Well, actually." Katashi started. "You can just leave us alone once we've gotten out of the cave. We could figure out the remaining by ourselves." Liollmon tackled his ankle a little. Upon looking at his doubtful eyes, Katashi knew that he'd forgotten something important. Clumsily he took out his Digivice, opened the file that contained the map given to him by Cyberdramon, and showed that to the spider queen.

"We're traveling towards that direction, as you can see. I would just like to ask if there's a quicker way, a shortcut, to get there within a few days?" the map was projected as a hologram, since he didn't trust Arukenimon enough to give her his Digivice. "I think we got lost."

"Lost souls are to be consumed here." Said the Ultimate. Apparently her mind was still filled with hunting preys and eating them, especially when she could've done so with the Destined. "But not you, not today, at least."

Katashi took a deep breath, then sighed ion relief. At least she was going to cooperate,

"Your destination lies far from here." She said, her voice slow and stretchy, like a witch in some really really ancient classic films. She pointed a finger at the hologram, her finger landing at a place, which seemed to be centimeters away from the destination. That, however, meant nothing, as the map's scale basically said that a few centimeters here translated into about a few hundreds of kilometers.

"That's not quite optimistic." Katashi mumbled. He had no idea how he could be that calm, especially when just a few minutes ago he had been cornered by a bunch of murderous Digimon.

"No, it is not." She continued. "And I think that is as far as we can tell you."

"What?" he heard Kaito speak. "Aren't you supposed to get us there?"

Katashi hushed him, but that wasn't quite enough. So Katashi whispered. "Let's not ruin her mood while she's still willing to let us out of here." He turned his head and faced Arukenimon again. "Thank you very much, and I think we're on a hurry, so, goodbye. And, I'll tell the Digi-Destined that you did us a great favor." As soon as he finished that, he had already begun sorting things by order, counting heads to make sure that nobody would be left behind, busy bustling as though he was about to take a long train ride.

"We could get more from her." Liollmon said, whispering.

Katashi shook his head. "It's already lucky of us that she'd just let us go." He turned his head to see that no Dokugumon were following. "And I'm glad we have the opportunity. We can sort out the map later, but let's just leave this place first. I'm about to die of the chills it gives me."

* * *

It took them quite some time to reach the surface. The way up there was actually rather simple, though it had to be given that the explorer had enough illumination and sense of direction. Since the group seemed to lack both, it was only possible to get out of there with the help of the Dokugumon.

"Glad to see sunlight again." Katashi exclaimed as they regrouped.

"I don't care how glad you are, just leave this place as soon as possible." Said Elsa, complaining. "I have no intention of revisiting that cave in all of my life."

"None of us do, I guess." Liollmon added.

"Just hurry and move on." Kynan interrupted the conversation quite rudely. "And make sure we don't fall into more traps again."

"Says the one who's always babbling about moving on and making progress." Elsa complained. "I do agree to you this time, though. No telling where and when they will change their minds."

"Move out, then. Talking really isn't of much help." Kynan uttered as the group left the place.

* * *

Two days of life like that was really unsettling and unbearable. Like everything else, traveling in the Digital World was something that would seem wonderful and promising and even beneficial at first glance. But then once you had started off, there would be no turning back, and that was when the most infuriating parts came in. Everyone would by now not to trust any advertisement from then on.

It was a bless that those two days had passed uneventfully, such that the group had been allowed to recover quite a little since the last battle. Two days seemed to be quite short from a certain perspective, as they had already gotten out of the deserted area, and had entered somewhere with greeneries –grasses, trees, leaves that covered the entire sky such that nights seemed no more different than day. As though proportionally, the number of complains had dropped with the number of battles.

At the third night, the group once again camped to pass the night. It was quite different from the previous times, though, seeing that the forest provided more than enough cover for them, and a less extreme temperate range.

"How much longer will this last?" said Green in a sudden. He had blended into the green background such that his voice sounded like it came out of nowhere. "I'm kind of tired of this."

"Me too." said his partner. "Though I think we all agree that the sooner it ends the better it will be." An idea suddenly came into his mind, and for a second he felt kind of embarrassed by himself that he hadn't come up with such a notion earlier. It could have saved them much more time. "Why don't we venture a little farther at nights as well? That'd make quite a progress."

The immediate reaction was not unexpected. "You're suggesting what?" came the voice of Elsa. Though usually she made her tone a bit of a mix between light and irritating, she actually sounded quite normal this time. Anyone else would say the same, though.

"If we used the time at nights as well, then we can double our progress." Rikuto explained. "I want to end this sooner that it has to be."

"Since when have you become Kynan?" LadyDevimon added with a yawn. "Of course we can't set out at night!"

"But…"

"Even I have to say that's a crazy notion." Kaito uttered. "We need rest. What if we got caught in the middle of a fight and none of us have the strength to battle?"

"And, we have no source of light in the dark as well." Blue added.

"I understand that you want it to end soon, as do I. But we can't just put our lives at stake just to do that. You should know that." Kaito said. "Plus, nobody would agree with you. I think you've figured that out as well."

It was solely due to the darkness that he didn't need to see the questioning looks on his teammates. If not having thought of that idea had been stupid enough, then letting everyone know about it was simply and inhumanly dumb. He wondered if his face had grown red out of embarrassment. Even he found himself shameful.

"Well then, just pretend I never said that." He muttered, leaning against a tree, sitting down. He then buried his face between his knees as his arms wrapped around them.

* * *

When everything was said and done, the group rested. Some individuals, nevertheless, couldn't sleep. It was crystal-clear that the battle three days ago was still haunting them, keeping them alert at any moment. Katashi, for instance, was one of the poor insomniac persons there. His mind kept skipping his thoughts to Yuzuki, as though she had been with him in the team.

 _She's at home now_. He forced himself to think that way. _She's safe. You'd better worry about your own safety._

But that didn't necessarily make him feel any better. He took out his Digivice again and tried to contact the girl –something he'd been doing and failing since his arrival at the Digital World. He kept lying down, staring at the sky that had been covered by the overgrown leaves. He thought of his own bedroom, somehow, and the ceiling that he could just stare at any moment. He missed home.

* * *

Even though the journey wasn't exactly as what one would've thought it to be, they still advanced, having no other choices but to follow their only lead. It had become quite increasingly controversial, the group's following the instructions given to them by Cyberdramon. Number of arguments had decreased, though. They had come to the realization that they had already failed half of their mission, and could only hope to make things right.

The reward of spending almost the entire week traveling in the wild was that, once the shape of anything that resembled a city, a town, or even just a tiny little village, was as delightful as getting a one hundred mark on an exam paper.

"Finally." Ren exclaimed as she walked into the solid town. There had been so much instances that she had thought she'd only seen mirages. The rest of the Destined would feel the same, she thought. What they were entering was not like any other places they had been. It felt civilized, had structural buildings that indicated hospitality and most importantly, the village was not empty or filled with man-eating Digimon. It was just another village where Digimon -peaceful ones -lived their daily lives and were satisfied with that.

"I don't see how that would excite you, since we should be leaving quite soon." Said Rikuto. But in truth, he was, too, glad that they had at least a place to rest properly. It was a bless, but that didn't really surprise him at all. He had almost taken it for granted that it would only be fair to have a resting place after days of traveling. Still, he was thankful.

"I haven't showered for days." Ren replied. "I can't remember exactly how many, but I just don't feel right that way. And so should you."

"Please don't bring up your sexual stereotypes, not here." The white-haired boy said lightly. "I do care about personal hygiene. I just don't show it."

"Well, I don't really care if you do or do not. Even if it's just a night, I'm gonna enjoy what I could have here before setting out again."

And so they went on and found an inn, or something that functioned like one. There was much peace they felt.

* * *

Yuzuki's life seemed to have been redirected back to normal. At least, she was living like her old self again, without all the anxiety, depression, or any sort of that. The most prominent factor contributing to her above average mood would be Kaoru, she had no doubt. Everything seemed so fine after he'd returned that she somehow thought leaving her job for Katashi was plainly guilty. She did, however, tried to reach out for him, but couldn't.

"So, what'd you plan to do today?" she asked, sitting on a chair beside Kaoru's bed. He was still having sleeping issues, she knew. But she just thought that she ought to be by his side as he awoke. Even she herself had been having recurring nightmares despite his return. Somehow she just wanted to be with him whenever it happened.

"No idea…yet." Kaoru replied, barely keeping his sleepy eyes opened. It wasn't a surprise, really, since he had been dead, or at least absent, during the course of the year. Now that it came to him, he couldn't exactly make a plan for the summer holiday. "What'd you suggest?"

Yuzuki held out an arm to help him get up, and then he sat on his bed, eyes full of question. "I think it'd be a good idea to get outside, have some fresh air. You know, you've been staying indoors since you moved here."

"Right." He mumbled. He remembered the first time when he had entered the apartment and registered the place as his home. He remembered Yuzuki in her new outfit, with a purple midriff tank top and a mini skirt that covered only half her thighs. She looked beautiful regardless of what she wore; he remembered the shocked look on her when he first changed his most prominent outfit into a light blue open vest on top of a gray polo shirt and a pair of brown shorts that extended all the way to his knees. "I never imagined you wearing shorts." She had commented. "I never imagined you wearing a skirt, either." He had said that in return.

Her voice brought him back into reality.

"How about we go for a swim?" she said casually. "It's getting quite hot lately."

Kaoru simply nodded before he got off the bed, gently pushing Yuzuki aside, a bit in a rush. "I slept in again, didn't I?"

"I allowed it. There's nothing to hurry about, so you don't have to feel bad about it."

"I just thought it was embarrassing. I'm already fourteen, and I still…"

"No need to be ashamed of that." Yuzuki said gently. "Even the adults sometimes sleep in."

He didn't say anything about it, simply giving her a subtle smile. She couldn't really remember the last time she had seen him smile, but that didn't do anything to her. She just thought that he looked a little nicer when he's smiling. After all, he's still a person; he had emotions, and she liked it when he showed them, though he was quite reserved about that.

Kaoru walked to the corridor, just out of the door when he suddenly felt a pain jetting up from his spine to his brain directly, as though someone had just punched him right beside his temples. It was a little subtle at first, but the pain magnified quickly, causing him to start losing balance as he pressed his left temple with one hand and started leaning against the wall before he finally dropped to his knees, muttering grunts that indicated his pain.

"What's wrong?" having heard some strange sound from the corridor as though something had just been tossed to the ground, Yuzuki walked out to check if everything was all right, and it was not. Instantly she spotted Kaoru lying on the ground, enclosing his head with his hands and shivering uncontrollably. "You okay?" though she knew the answer to that question, she really just said it out of concern. Swiftly she approached Kaoru, who was seen having his eyes shut tight and a look of agony right on his face.

"It…" Before he could say a thing, the pain got over him and he was left screaming, curling into a ball on the ground.

"What's happening?" Yuzuki mumbled as she attended to Kaoru. She didn't really know what to do, but wanted to help all the same. She'd just gotten him back for days, and she wasn't ready to lose him again. "Stay here. I'll call an ambulance."

Before she could go, Kaoru gripped her waist and retained her. She looked back and saw Kaoru's barely opened eyes. They seemed like talking, and she thought that they were saying things like "Don't leave me alone" silently. It was obvious that Kaoru wanted her to stay, and she wanted that, too. Still, she knew that the best way to handle his case was to call in the professionals, and she wanted no delay on that.

"Yu…zuki." Kaoru said again, this time more audible, but was equally agonizing. His grip tightened, preventing her from leaving.

"I need to get help for you!" Yuzuki said, a bit more like scolding. "I don't know what to do with you!"

Kaoru pulled her to his side, and she complied. It was only a matter of seconds before the two were so close that there were literally only a few inches between the two. Yuzuki held out her arms, which were still being held by Kaoru, and pulled Kaoru to her side, letting his head rest on her shoulder.

She heard a couple of air gasping, then felt his hair brushing her neck gently. His shivering had been reduced, as though the pain was fading with time.

"I…sorry." Kaoru said. Yuzuki was still holding him tight.

"Feeling better now?" she asked. That was all she cared about.

"Better." He replied, distancing himself from Yuzuki. "I didn't know that would happen."

"Actually, what's wrong with you?" she asked out of concern. "Are you hiding something from me?"

"It's just a headache, really." He said numbly. "Only that this time it is more unbearable."

Yuzuki fell back a little. "This time?" she mumbled, looking straight at Kaoru, who was evading eye contact. "You mean, you've had it before?"

"Sometimes." He said, his voice lighter than usual. "It's nothing, really."

"I don't think that's nothing." Yuzuki argued. "You should've told me, or at least let me know that you needed help."

"I didn't want to trouble you, so…"

"I care about you!" she said, a little too emotional that she sounded more like scolding him now. "You can't just hide that from me."

Kaoru looked aside, saying nothing.

"When did it start?" she said, more demanding than asking.

"I can't remember." Kaoru said, still looking aside. "But I think it happened since I woke up in the hospital."

"And you just decided to hide that from me?"

"I…" he wanted to say it again, that he simply didn't want to trouble her, but knew that whatever he said would just be another excuse that would madden Yuzuki, so he didn't. There's nothing he could do to hide that now, and he felt a bit guilty that he had been lying to her.

"Kaoru." She said, strangely cold, as if she would break up with him the next few seconds, though hopefully that was not what actually happened. Her gaze was firm, but not as resentful as some teachers would look at their students. She was simply determined. "The last time you hid something from me, you ended up dead." She said, eyes glistening with small droplets of tears. "And I just got you back, so…" she paused a little, needing a breath of air before she could continue. "I don't want there to be any more secrets between us."

He did not answer, and she knew why.

"I know you want to protect me, but that's not how you do that." She said softly. "I can take care of myself, and I don't want you to be the only one protecting someone. I want to protect you, too, whenever I see you in danger. So…can you promise me that we will be honest to each other from now on?"

He turned slightly towards her, still evading eye contact even as he nodded in agreement.

"Say you'll not keep everything to yourself anymore." She was not satisfied. "Promise me."

"I…" there was a moment of hesitation, but he finally let the words out. It wasn't as though they would be facing any grave danger immediately, not like the last time when they had been in the Digital Would and all had needed to be afraid all day and night for ambushes. "I promise."

* * *

What a luxury it was to stay in a place in the Digital World without having to worry about catching on schedules and being chased by hordes of Digimon, who were all more powerful than the team was. Right now, it seemed that the comfort was starting to make Katashi feel a bit lazy. It could be so much better if they were just to stay that way forever, without much to worry about.

That, however, didn't reduce his determination. Seeing his friends finally being able to relax and sleep on real beds was something that would ease his mind. That was also part of the reason that he knew he should go on, even when everything he was about to do seemed almost impossible. A time when no one needed to worry about the world being destroyed, that's his motivation. It had, somehow, outweighed his original purpose –to keep Yuzuki as far away from trouble as he could.

It was a night of peace, and he loved that. But tougher tasks were coming; he would need to be prepared. With that thought he, like the rest of the team, submitted himself to the dreams that would brighten his heart before more troubles came.

* * *

 **Just a little note. I might not be able to update weekly from now on. (Still working on chapter 21. Gotten a bit lazy lately)**

 **Also, for the Yuzuki & Kaoru part, it might seem a bit boring, but it is needed for the story to unfold. **

**By the way, since I've finally decided to write a little author's note, I might as well do a little shameless promotion here. Please remember to give reviews for the story and, if possible, share the story to your friends. The traffic graph is my only motivation and I'm a bit upset lately that the numbers don't grow as expected (Never expected too much viewers, though.)**

 **So, thanks for your cooperation, whoever you are.**


	20. A shortcut

-A shortcut-

"I'd think that you're taking a day off if we weren't having a common goal." Said Katashi to Kaito, who was a bit unwilling to get off the bed. It must have been way too comfortable to finally have something that resembled human civilization in the Digital World, he thought, yet he couldn't help waking him up. He didn't want to make their task look any easier because of these rests. They needed to stay alert.

A Digimon entered the room, indicating that the group would have to leave the inn soon. It was a humanoid Digimon, with the body of a common teenager but a pair of goat's legs and horns on his head. "Had a nice stay?" Aegiomon asked the group, which had been under his care in the inn.

"Yeah, best day since we'd gotten here, actually." Katashi said. He didn't want it to sound ceremonial, but couldn't help it. He had never stayed in a private inn anyway. In terms of room services, Aegiomon had done more than enough to make the group feel as relaxed by not having disturbed any of them during the previous night, and Katashi was thankful for that. For some reason, though, he couldn't help but feel like he owed a debt to the Digimon, and was being asked to give it back. "We'll be leaving soon, so we won't bother you for long."

"Don't feel pressured." The Aegiomon replied. "The boss would not be happy to see customers feeling stressed."

"Thanks." Katashi said numbly before ensuring that everyone in the team had wakened up and was ready to go. Well, at least the boys in the team. Now that he'd thought about it, he found himself unable to shake off the image of Elsa quarreling with Ren as they spent the night together. Ren was the more friendly out of the two, so there shouldn't have been much trouble, he hoped.

* * *

It took them almost half an hour to actually leave the inn. There hadn't been much paper work, but someone –one of the girls –had been quite unwilling to end the moment of peace that soon. Still, she had been convinced to leave earlier when Liollmon had told her that they would leave her behind if she couldn't follow. That had been more than effective to wake her up and bring her to her full alertness.

" –And we still have quite a long way to go." Elsa heard Blue say that. The others had gathered into a round and were analyzing the map without her presence. _They just wanted to act cool._ She thought. What she couldn't believe was that even LadyDevimon, her partner, had joined the conversation without her. _She_ _'_ _s always independent._ She assured herself.

"So, mind telling any ideas that you've got in my absence?" she interrupted the conversation just as Katashi was going to ask her to join in, having seen her remotely some time earlier.

"We have no ideas, so far." Uttered Rikuto, "And that's not because of your absence."

"I'm glad you know that you can't blame me for everything."

"Nobody's blamed you for anything." Liollmon said firmly. "Not yet, at least."

"Can't we just quit this and get back to business?" Valkyrimon said. Though she was normally reserved, the scenes of the Destined arguing again and again had quite annoyed her. There was still a long way to go, and only united could they withstand future challenges, she knew. She just wanted the party to be rational enough such that they would not tear themselves apart before the enemy even appeared.

"Right." It was Kynan who spoke. "As I was saying before, I think we should probably get some help from the locals"

"Help?"

"A means of transportation, he meant." Kudamon uttered.

"What are you waiting for, then?" she asked the question that, at a first glance, appeared completely redundant, but the truth was that obviously none of the group showed any sign of getting going.

Katashi explained that bluntly. "Well, none of us here knows who to talk to."

"Then we'll just split up." Elsa suggested, smirking. "None of you thought of that?"

"The problem is, even as we split up, we wouldn't know who to look for. Plus, we might get lost." Katashi replied. That, however, did nothing to stop the blond girl from wandering off. She simply said something that made the most sense "Use your Digivices to track me, then." as she ran off, without even saying goodbye.

"She's quite productive today, I'd say." LadyDevimon commented before going with her partner.

"Guess we've no other ways." Liollmon said, a bit sarcastically.

* * *

For the next hour Katashi had not yet seen Elsa's face again, or any others' of the group. It was a good sign, though, seeing that it indicated no one had used half their efforts to ask a same Digimon for multiple times. He had already inquired quite some Digimon living there. At least a dozen, he thought. His hope had grown smaller and smaller with each failed attempt. There was simply too much need for luck with this tactic, and he had never really been lucky in his life.

Them something –or rather, someone –caught his attention.

"Aren't you the one who asked me questions?" a Bakomon appeared behind him. Katashi remembered him being one of the interviewees he had asked for, but could not think of a reasonable explanation for his appearance, The Bakomon had, after all, said that he knew nothing about a quick means of traveling to the other side of the continent.

"Oh! It's you." Katashi uttered as he turned around. Liollmon was a bit faster than him, and had already started approaching the Bakomon. "Haven't us talked before?"

"Yes, we have." The Bakomon said in a polite demeanor. "But after that I remembered I had not told you all I know –not that I remembered it back then, though."

Katashi had to kneel down a bit to get to the tiny Digimon's eye level. It made him feel like he was taking care of a bunch of kindergarteners during some voluntary work. "What's it that you haven't told us?" he tried to sound as polite as he could, but it still sounded a bit demanding of him.

"Well, I forgot to tell you that I actually knew a way to there." The Bakomon started. "No, not really. It's more a way I have heard of, anyway. I am not really sure if that's real or just rumors, but…"

"Just get to the point, please?" Liollmon muttered.

"Yeah…right. As I was saying, I have heard of someone who could get around the World in no time. It's just that I have never really seen this guy, or gal, before, so I didn't remember to tell you that."

"Thank you for remembering that, then." Katashi said.

"Well, it's not a big deal. It's just that you seemed desperate."

"So, who's this guy?" Liollmon asked.

"I heard it's a Dorogoramon." Bakomon said. "And if I remember it right, he should be somewhere south of this town. I heard that he is a hermit and doesn't really like disturbance, though."

"Then how come his name crossed your mind?" Liollmon was having a hard time processing the logic behind this. "Isn't he supposed to be 'un-findable'?"

"There was a group of merchant sometime earlier, maybe a year or so. They said they had traveled somewhere south in a bad weather –raining and land-sliding and all that stuff. They even got robbed by some Digimon on their way. It was then that Dorugoramon appeared and helped them, and, according to them, Dorugoramon made their three-week journey into no more than one day."

"He's that fast?"

"Knows a lot of shortcuts, the merchants said." Bakomon said. "And the merchants said they couldn't remember the exact route they traveled, and dared not go there again."

"So, where can we find him?" Katahsi asked the most practical question. "'Somewhere south' doesn't mean really mean anything, not to us, I'm afraid."

"That's all I know." Bakomon said. Not unexpected, but disappointing.

"Well, thanks very much, still." Katashi said politely before the Bakomon set off again and disappeared from Katashi's sight gradually.

"So we're still clueless." Liollmon complained.

"Well, at least we have lead." Said Katashi. "Let's call the others."

* * *

All of them gathered at the place exactly where they had separated. It had been an hour and a half, and Katashi could wait no more just to hear what the others had found. Though he wanted to show off every once in a while, he was hoping that someone actually did find something that was clearer than his "lead".

"So, what've you got?" Blue was the first to come, with his partner Kaito leaning against a tree, resting. "We couldn't even get a word out of the villagers. It seemed they were just as clueless as we are."

"We didn't have much luck either." Ren said, approaching the group. Valkyrimon added. "No one seemed to know anything."

It didn't take more than ten minutes before they had all gathered there. There were little to say; nearly all of them had failed to obtain the very information they needed at the moment, and they seemed more worried than frustrated towards the fact.

"So maybe we did have something to tell the others." Liollmon whispered to Katashi, who nodded slightly in return. The feeling that he had something no others had was a bit seductive, and he quite enjoyed that, with a little grin coming from the corners of his mouth.

"I don't see why you're smiling." Kynan said.

"Well clearly he has something to say." Grenn added. "He's the only one who hadn't said that he didn't find anything."

"You're keeping a record on that?" Rikuto whispered to his partner, and got himself a hush from him. Having a Digimon "partner" as a friend surely felt better than having one like a baby. At least they could chat.

"Well, as a matter of fact, we did hear something." Liollmon said boastfully.

"It's just a lead, no more." Katashi said, earning himself a "Stop being humble and just get to the point" look from the others. "We heard that there is a Digimon who could help us get past the continent in a matter od days."

"And who told you that?" Rikuto asked.

"A Digimon here. He said that Dorugoramon, the Digimon I mentioned, was able to reduce a three-week trip into a day's time."

"So, where's he now?" said Elsa. She quite enjoyed being the one to ruin the moment, either for fun or practicality. Her questions always made the team lose hope, but she found it entertaining, pointing out the flaws in others.

"That's the problem we face." Katashi said. His face turned a little red and he started ignoring eye contact with the others as he said, "We only know that he lives in somewhere south to this town,"

"And that's supposed to be some good news?" Elsa uttered.

"Better a lead than nothing." Liollmon replied.

"Let's not get out-focused here; we still have a hermit to find." Katashi said. Even he himself felt hopeless, that they were in search of such random an encounter. Maybe walking straight towards their destination on foot would be faster than finding a way to get there. But he didn't share that thought with the others, for fear that they should fall into another argument again. It was best that he didn't get his personal opinion into a debate –something he learned through the journey that had yet to begin.

"Well, I'll go with his idea, given that there are no objections." Kynan declared. He had always sounded authoritative, though he never really cared about it that much. "It's gonna be a vain search either way."

"And you suggest that we give up our original goal in pursuit of this uncertainty?" Ren said. "I didn't mean anything bad, but shouldn't we be focused on getting to the destination as soon as possible?"

"And Dorugoramon would be our way to it." Liollmon interrupted.

"If we could find him." Ren replied. "I don't think we could."

Kaito said nothing. He had grown wary of the endless debates that had been occurring ever since they had entered the Digital World, and really wanted things to just get back to normal. Somehow, it seemed to him that deciding to sneak into the Digital World had been the worst mistake in his life. He had gotten new friends through it, only at the cost of getting himself into countless troubles. He couldn't really understand why Rikuto, his identical brother, would think differently. They were supposed to share a same set of genes! Either way, as long as Rikuto was involved, he would abandon all thoughts of getting away. He needed to be there for his brother, even though it felt over-protective to even himself. He had a sense of responsibility that he should take care of him, regardless of whether Rikuto liked it or not.

The thought had taken quite a bit of attention from him, and he could only be back to reality when Rikuto patted his shoulder, gently leading his attention back to the topic on discussion.

"Aren't you gonna vote?" the younger twin said.

"Vote?"

"We decided to go democratic here." Blue said. "Go on foot, or find this Dorugoramon guy."

"I…I don't really care." Kaito said reluctantly. He could not believe that he had missed such important a part of the conversation. "I'll just go for the fastest way."

"Well, if you don't make a stance, then we will go find Dorugoramon." Katashi said. "Though your vote wouldn't mean anything anyway."

* * *

The group had been busy ever since they had decided to go for Dorugoramon. First, Katashi headed back into the village and found Bakomon again for more details. The result was of very little help. Bakomon said that he knew only of the estimated location, which was not at all surprising. He told the group to search for the woods in the south first, since there were much more dangerous wild Digimon and normally no villagers would go there. He also mentioned that the woods had been a part of the aforementioned merchants' route, which made him believe that Dorugoramon was somewhere in the woods.

It did not take long to arrive at the woods. The group had had all their Digimon Digivolved into the highest phase possible before setting off. The woods were, not quite fitting its title for being dangerous, surprisingly beautiful and lively. Small insect-like Digimon could be seen passing by the traveling party ever once in a while, and they did not appear hostile. Some bird Digimon had, too, noticed the group's advancement, but did nothing to hilt their advance. It would seem that Bakomon had over-rated the woods' danger. Green leaves of various woody plants covered the sky, leaving small pours for sunlight to come in. the ground was glistening with dots after dots of sunlight, making it felt almost like a disco ball had been hung on the treetops.

"It would feel so relaxing if it wasn't for the mission we carry." Ren commented. "This much greenery, I have never seen anything more soothing than this before."

"Well, I guess I'll go the complete opposite way." Rikuto replied. "Especially after we got caught by those spiders. I just can't appreciate the beauty of nature the way I did anymore."

"Don't tell me you're afraid of the Digital World already." Ren joked.

"I'm not afraid!" Rikuto replied, quite emotionally. "I'm just being cautious."

Before Ren could say another word to tease him, she was interrupted by Kaito. "Can't you two carry on your old-couple-like date when we get back home?" They grew red at the same time, and ceased talking for the time being.

Elsa, who hadn't really done much talking with the twins, approached Kaito's side and whispered to him. "You jealous that your little brother's got a girl while you don't?"

"Of course not." Kaito nearly shouted out the first word, but then restrained himself such that the sentence remained a whisper. Though he didn't know the girl much, it appeared to him that talking with her would not be a good idea, seeing how Katashi had constantly been annoyed with her. "Why do you care about that anyway?" he chose to ask. It was only polite that he ended the conversation without suddenly being irresponsive.

"I've got to ensure that everyone in the team has a good mental condition." She replied.

 _Which you clearly don_ _'_ _t have._ Thought Kaito. "Let's just focus on finding Dorugoramon for now, okay?"

The timing was perfect. Nearly immediately after they'd finished the conversation, Chirinmon, sensing something odd in the atmosphere, spoke. "Something is watching us. I can sense it."

"We didn't step in another hunting ground, did we?" Blue said as he flew higher, remembering when the last time he had been caught by something underground.

"Let's hope not." Kynan answered. By then the group had already slowed, and almost stopped just to be certain that the danger wasn't immanent. There was simply no way that they wouldn't be cautious after the last time they had stepped into a trap. "Maybe we should get going."

"To where?" LadyDevimon said sarcastically. "Don't forget that we're here to wander around, hoping to find a hermit. Wouldn't it be nice if someone finds us first? At least we can make that someone talk, then."

"Just hope that we're not the one to be made to talk." GrapLeomon muttered.

Chirinmon stopped again, giving them a hush. The atmosphere grew dense as the tema all dropped their volume at once. Now that nothing was there to be heard, they found the woods incredibly quiet, as though not a thing was there. There were not the sounds of leaves brushing and falling against one another; there was not the buzzing and hissing of Digimon they thought would be inhabited there; there wasn't even the feeling of breeze brushing against their face, as if the entire wood had died out, becoming a still backdrop rather then an actual location. It felt as though time had stopped around them.

"Okay, now I'm getting the creeps." Elsa muttered as quietly as possible.

Nothing happened for a few seconds –not Digimon came charging towards the team in hopes of eating them; no sign of Cyberdramon or Mephistomon interrupting their journey, not even the most basic feel of life was there. Something was wrong with the forest, and that could not be more obvious now that everyone had gotten a feeling that something worse than stepping into the spiders' hunting ground was about to happen.

"Who is there?" Chirinmon said. It would appear that he was the only who could sense something solid out of the dreamy woods. "I can sense you. Show yourself!"

"No one ventures into the woods." A grimy and old voice sounded, ending in echoes that should not exist, given that the condition of the forest didn't really allow echoes to form.

"Well, we do." Chirinmon could be sure that the others could hear the voice as well, as Katashi spoke. "We're here looking for someone." He tried to be as polite as possible while not letting the fright leak out of his words.

"Someone?"

"Yeah, a Digimon called Dorugoramon." He said before Kaito quickly approached him and tapped his shoulder, getting his attention before whispering. "We shouldn't really give out that much to a stranger."

"I don't see any other options." Katashi whispered.

"Fear not talking aloud. I hear it all." The voice said, this time a bit gentler, but still menacing nonetheless.

"Then you should already know who we are, and why we are here." Chirinmon said, his tone demanding. "And so there is no reason that you hide."

"Hide? I am not sure if it was I who is hiding."

"Then show yourself!"

"I am showing myself." The voice said.

"What?" Katashi could not help but let out a grunt of confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

The forest became darker moments later. The already dim light seemed to have faded in a split second, rendering everything there only their outlines, barely visible. At the same time, light bits appeared out of thin air, glimmering a golden radiance while circling around, leaping here and there in a pattern like electrons do around a nucleus, except that the nucleus in this case was a specifically larger ball of light, glowing red and yellow and white repeatedly like some really fancy advertisement banners, except that this one was way brighter. And then, when all the light bits converged, merging in the middle, a blinding wave of flash engulfed everything.

When all was over, there, in the middle of the forest, stood a Digimon almost twice the size of Gulfmon. His skin was silvery gray, textured like leather; on his back were two enormous and well-decorated wings. It was needless to say; the Digimon was Dorugoramon.

"Never expected something like this." Elsa muttered.

"So, what do we do now?" Rikuto whispered. No one answered before Dorugoramon spoke.

"You sought to see me, and here I am."

"Thank you very much, to start things off." Katashi said. "As we've told you, we'd been looking for you in hopes that you might have some means to get us across the continent quickly."

"And where did you hear that from, that I could help you?"

 _Well, we had some luck and a Digimon told us about you._ Katashi was certain that wouldn't be the perfect answer. Instead, remembering what Bakomon had told him about the merchants, he answered, "A group of merchants said that you helped them, and then the words spread."

"And you think you could get me to help you. But why do you need it so desperately?" Dorugoramon said. There was something weird about his posture. He looked more like a statue than an actual living being; his mouth barely moved as he spoke, and his wings didn't even move up and down slightly as all winged creature would. His body, too, looked rigid and solid.

"Something is happening to both the Human World and the Digital World, and we're trying to stop it." Katashi said as loud as he could. He feared that his voice wouldn't reach the giant Digimon. Still, he tried to sound nice. "And we need to get to where we want in order to do so."

"So you wish to protect the world." Dorugoramon muttered. Something was different about him now that he'd spoken those words; the strange and uncomfortable feeling about him was gone. If Katahsi had to describe it, he would say that Dorugoramon looked like he had gone from a statue to an actual living being. "But your will…how strong is your will?"

"Strong enough such that we're here talking to you." Kynan said. "And strong enough that none of us here freaked out seeing the way you appeared. You're not a normal Digimon, are you?"

"That is a question for another time." Dorugoramon said, his voice solemn yet soft. "I need to see for myself how solid and immovable your will is." As he said so, he lurched forward, hands spread with his wings extending to their full size. "Show me!"

 _An_ _inevitable_ _fight?_ While the thought was still being formed, the Digimon from the Destined were already on their move, readying themselves in the fight.

"Cyclone Kick!" GrapLeomon was one of the faster Digimon, and was already near Dorugoramon in just a split second, jumping up high into the sky, rotating his whole body such that he had become the core of a tornado, the green leaves swirling around him as he descended, striking Dorugoramon right on his head, but was easily bounced off. He landed despite the rapid fall he had gone through, punching the ground while steadying himself.

"Blue Flare Breath!"

"Green Flare Breath!"

The two Coredramon struck from either side of Dorugoramon, surrounding him in flashes of cobalt and emerald flames, lighting the fallen leaves on the ground as well. They circled around Dorugoramon while flying steadying, such that a cyclone of fire seemed to have formed around Dorugoramon.

"Laser Javelin!" Valkyrimon summoned a javelin out of the thin air and grabbed it once it had been materialized, jumping high and throwing it towards the center of the flaming cyclone from the open space above. It vanished, disappeared from sight the in a millisecond, and then an explosion occurred from within the cyclone. Its force was so strong that even the Destined got blown away by it, falling backwards, barely keeping their stance.

Something was not right, and Chirinmon noted that. Dorugoramon had not even commenced a single attack so far, not to mention that he had not even attempted to dodge the attacks from the Destined. It could mean only one thing –that Dorugoramon was confident in himself and thought he could take all the attacks without doing anything. And if he could do that, the fight would be a losing fight, or so Chirinmon thought.


	21. Renewed bodies

-Renewed bodies-

It wasn't at all surprising, that Dorugoramon did more than barely surviving the attack. When the mist surrounding the Digimon due to the explosion faded, the Destined could see its gigantic and strong shape being surrounded by the acrid smoke.

There was no time to be amazed, however. Immediately after they could see him again, Dorugoramon struck, rushing forward towards Valkyrimon and swinging his entire body such that his tail hit the Mega in no time, sending her flying towards a distant tree, where she hit the trunk hard and dropped the sword she held, barely keeping herself balanced.

While Ren ran off to care about her partner, the others had little to no time doing so, since Dorugoramon wasn't stopping at all. Right after Valkyrimon, he changed his targets to the two Coredramon. Both Blue and Green reacted fast, but was no enough to evade Dorugoramon's punch. Blue took the hit, losing balance and spinning towards the ground as he fell. Green, having barely escaped the strike, flew farther away from Dorugoramon and switched to use ranged tactics, firing shinning green flames towards Dorugoramon while keeping their distances. That, however, wasn't enough to stop Dorugoramon from advancing. With a swift move he switched his position from in front of Green to his back, striking him even before he could turn his head and have his eyes on his opponent. It took no time at all when Green fell, joining his twin brother on the ground.

"No good," Katashi muttered as he saw GrapLeomon charging at Dorugoramon again. It didn't take a genius to know that the attempted strike would be futile. Agilely Dorugoramon turned to face the incoming Ultimate, catching his punch with one arm, holding tight so that GrapLeomon wouldn't get away however he struggled. And then, with a smooth throw, GrapLeomon flew backwards from whence he had come, hitting countless tree twigs before hitting another great trunk and collapsing with uncountable leaves falling all over him like snow.

"He hasn't even cried a move name yet." LadyDevimon muttered to herself while keeping a distance away from Dorugoramon. She wasn't that stupid to put herself right in front of a fight of the others and risk her life. After all, tactics was tactics. She preferred stepping aside as the others fought, at least that way she could observe her opponent and form a strategy. That was her style. But this time, the choice was not hers to make. As soon as Dorugoramon took notice of her, he rushed at her fiercely, hands reaching out and claws shinning under the dim light, ready to deal some damage.

Barely dodging the strike thanks to her above-average reflex, LadyDevimon found herself jumping from tree to tree despite being able to fly. All the trunks were getting in her way as she navigated midair. She thought of it as some sort of a game where she would need to clear her way out of the woods. That optimistic thought, however, was soon lost as Dorugoramon caught up with her, grabbing her near her waist and slamming her hard towards the ground.

"That's not how you treat a lady!" LadyDevimon muttered. Amazingly, as if he had already acknowledged that LadyDevimon couldn't fight anymore, Dorugoramon turned his sight on the others again. This time, he charged right towards Chirinmon, the one that seemed most alerted to him.

"Wind Cutter Sword!" before long, Chirinmon reacted, flying higher than Dorugoramon could reach him at the moment before charging at the Mega. Despite their difference in level, Chirinmon didn't hold back. With full velocity he dashed towards Dorugoramon, expecting to take his attack head on while his blade-like horn glowed faint red as the rest of Chirinmon became nothing but a streak of colors.

When the two attacks collided, there was a shockwave so great that all the Destined fell almost one by one, not being able to retain their balance.

Kynan was one of the few who could get up faster and still manage to stand. When he regained vision of his surrounding, he could see two still figures standing in the middle of thousands of flickering leaves raining down at them. He could easily tell that the two figures were Dorugoramon and Chirinmon, but couldn't confirm it since he was too far away, so he staggered closer towards them while hiding behind trees to keep himself hidden and protected. There, he saw something almost impossible to him.

Chirinmon was still, and his horn was no longer visible, at least not for the moment. Streams of data spilled from Dorugoramon's abdomen. It looked kind of like bleeding, except that the thing running out of the wound was a long series of words, forming some sort of computer code. He couldn't believe it. Chirinmon actually managed to wound Dorugoramon. He couldn't be more proud with his partner. But something was off. Chirinmon was as still as a statue; even his fur wasn't hovering around as breeze trailed by his side.

"You okay?" Kynan jogged forwards, towards his immobilized partner. Just as he'd gotten there, Chirinmon disappeared with thousands of data bits surrounding him as he glowed. In no time he was a Rookie again, lying on the floor, unconscious. Kynan ran closer to examine Kudamon. He was alive, but barely. There was no way he could take part in this fight anymore. Hugging him, Kynan held Kudamon in his arms and went behind tall trees for coverage.

It was only fortunate that the others had regained their battle positions, and were ready for another strike. The wound on Dorugoramon gave them hope. The Digimon was not invincible, after all.

"The King of Fist!"

"Blue Flare Breath!"

"Green Flare Breath!"

The three attacked simultaneously, all hitting their target. With one palm covering the damage done on his abdomen, Dorugoramon was not fast enough to evade the attack. But he really needed not do so. The attacks were nothing but a scratch to him. He needed only endure.

"How did he do that?" Kaito uttered in disbelief. There was no way Chirinmon could inflict damage on Dorugoramon but the others couldn't. He must have gotten lucky and hit Dorugoramon's weak point. Shouting at Blue and Green, the boy instructed them to hit as close to Dorugoramon's wound as possible.

"Blue Flare Breath!"

"Green Flare Breath!"

They struck again, aiming at the wound on Dorugoramon. Despite their efforts, Dorugoramon had regained some of his speed and quickly turned around so that the vibrant flames could only hit his side, where leathery skin protected him from most of the damage inflicted.

"Valkyrimon, go for it!" Ren, having not done anything lately, was not ready to sit behind and watch the others fight. Her partner took out her crossbow and aimed at Dorugoramon's abdominal region. With steady hands she fired, shouting, "Aurvandil's Arrow!"

It happened so fast that none of them really noticed it. But a second later Dorugoramon was already on the ground, his hands covering his wound. More data streamed out of his torso and it could be seen clearly that an energy arrow had met its target.

"I never miss." Valkyrimon said, most like praising herself.

That, however, was not a reason the Destined should relax. Dorugoramon got to his feet fast, and stood steady, as though the wound was nothing more than a scratch. And then, as everyone watched the Mega rising up, Dorugoramon's body started glowing, letting out rays of flashlight of different colors, effectively making the forest a disco area.

After a few seconds of charging, Dorugoramon's glow became brighter and brighter, almost blinding, as he yelled, "DORU Din!"

It happened even faster than how Valkyrimon had put an arrow in his wound. All the Destined fell, unable to get up and unable to see a thing. A shockwave had been released, and it had almost cleared half the forest, with trees being cut in halves such that the trunk left behind had a very smoothly cut top. It was a miracle that the Destined wasn't dead. Not yet.

"How are we supposed to fight this thing?" GrapLeomon, one of the few how could manage to stand after receiving that strike, muttered. The only other Digimon that were able to fight would be Blue and Green. Valkyrimon seemed to have taken the hit most directly and was left unconscious on the ground while LadyDevimon was nowhere to be seen.

"You still wish to continue?" Dorugoramon asked. "Why?"

"That's the only way we can fulfill our duty." GrapLeomon replied, gasping for air between his words.

"Yeah." Blue joined. "We're not gonna just lose here and get back home empty-handed."

"Yeah." Green joined as well. It was unfortunate, that their partners had both been struck could severely and was lying on the ground, motionless. It would appear that they had passed out.

Dorugoramon, hearing those words, readied himself for another round of attack, taking steps backwards to distance himself from the Destined.

There was no way they could do it, GrapLeomon knew. Even with their combined force, they were only one Ultimate and two Champions. The fight wouldn't last long, but he didn't feel like surrendering. Just the thought of it disgusted him. Therefore, with the little strength that remained inside him, he rushed towards the Mega, throwing a punch at his face. He was too weak to even make Dorugoramon feel pain before he was dragged to the ground by the own reaction force of his punch. He couldn't fight anymore.

Blue and Green continued using their first tactic –surrounding Dorugoramon and enveloping him with their fiery breaths. The unfortunately truth was that it had been proved useless just not long ago, and so their defeat was pretty much expectable. Dorugoramon withstood the flames and knocked Blue out first, then smacking Green with his tail. The Coredramon brothers fell, almost reaching the ground just as they noticed that the flames they had produced was used by Dorugoramon, who somehow manipulated the fires and sent it straight towards them. In just a millisecond they had already predicted that the locus of the flames would not hit them, but would instead strike Kaito and Rikuto and a couple of others, who were still unable to get up. Determined to stop them from being burnt, the twins flew through the air, accelerating such that they were even faster than when they were being tossed aside. The image of the humans got bigger and bigger, indicating that they were moving towards them closer and closer. When at last everything seemed to have returned to their proper size, the flame was there as well. Spreading their wings wide, the two Coredramon shielded the entire party from the attack, taking it in their stead. There was a mini explosion, and when the acrid smoke created by it disappeared, two new Digimon was there in front of the Destined, who had just been awakened by all the noise of the battle.

"Wingdramon, Ultimate, Vaccine type." Katashi found his Digivice reading the information of the winged Digimon, which had a blue theme going on him and had wings even larger than his torso.

"Grounddramon, Ultimate, Virus type." Rikuto's Digivice read. The Digimon it described was green in color, using four legs to walk like a lizard, and had what appeared to be two extra arms extending from his back.

"So you have Digivolved." Dorugoramon exclaimed.

Despite that, the twins weren't in any condition to battle. They could barely keep themselves standing after having taken such a blast from Dorugoramon. But that did nothing to change their resolution. Their eyes were sharper than usual, and the slight trace of ignorance in their Champion form had disappeared completely. Though only looking at their back, Kaito felt something different about the two Digimon, like the first time he had seen them Digivolve. They looked menacing, and that was, oddly, scary to Kaito.

They were ready to strike, posing themselves and readying the moves. Even if they were going down, it was clear that they wouldn't give in without a fight. For a moment it seemed that they could actually stand a chance against Dorugoramon, notwithstanding the fact that they were still just Ultimate.

"Blaze Sonic Breath!"

"Megaton Hammer Crush!"

It was like any other attacks. Smoke went out as soon as they had commenced the attack, so there was no telling whether they had successfully defeated Dorugoramon or not. All was a mess. In the midst of that, they hurried back to their fallen allies and helped them get to somewhere safer for the moment, hiding behind some trees so that even if Dorugoramon had not been defeated, they could at least have an element of surprise.

As expected, when the smoke was gone there stood Dorugoramon, still standing straight. Even with just the shadow it cast, he looked menacing, as if challenging the Destined for a round two.

The little time that had been brought by Blue and Green had only allowed the Destined Digimon to recover a little. Still, they would fight, since there were no other options.

But, it was Dorugoramon who said, "That's enough for now."

* * *

At last, after almost a year, it was the first time they saw each other, face to face, like the very first time they had met. Surrounding the room were the six Digi-Destined, along with all their respective partner Digimon. It would seem that a single room was a bit too small for all eleven of them, being squeezed into Eiji's living room, which was already the largest room they could get their hands onto.

"I still don't see the point of this." Kaoru muttered quietly. "We don't really have anything to do."

"Just the fact that someone has gotten back from the dead itself is worth throwing a party, you know?" Amy said. Being one of the few that had been in contact with Yuzuki lately, she could clearly see the black-haired girl regaining her optimistic and somewhat cheerful nature. It seemed to her that the previous fight to get Kaoru back was worth it. "Though you're not really the party type. Meramon said that." She glanced towards her silent partner.

"And, just seeing each other is already something worth doing." Eiji said. Being the eldest of the six, he had been spending much time studying. Plus, the previous voting thing about the Institute had made the relations between the Destined a bit tense. It was the first time he'd seen the others after that event, and he was thankful for that.

"Only if you've seen his room." Pteramon said. "He literally sleeps with books." He earned himself a hush from his partner, which he gladly ignored.

"Let's not get distracted here." Said Eiji. "We all know who's the star here."

Everyone turned their vision towards Kaoru, who stood in a corner, quietly staring at the floor.

"C'mon, don't be shy." Yuzuki uttered to him as she shoved him forwards, towards the crowd. His head was still hanging low, rising up only a little to catch his former allies' sight.

"Now's probably the most appropriate time to say this: welcome back." said Lilymon, smiling on behalf of all the members there. "And now we're finally here, all together."

That, however, triggered something long forgotten by them. Though showing a little sign of happiness, Kaoru quickly turned his gaze towards the floor again, avoiding eye contact with the others and backing off to the quiet corner. He said lightly. "Not all of us are here."

Lilymon approached him, apologizing. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bring that up."

"Don't be." Replied Kaoru, as inaudible as he had been when he had first joined the team. "That's all my fault, really."

"Don't blame yourself." Metalphantomon, who was nearest to him, said. "You were just…"

"But I'm still the one who caused all this." Uttered Kaoru, a tiny drop of tear trailing along his cheek. He turned around, facing the others with his back. "Sorry, I ruined the mood."

"You really think we should feel sorry for that?" Amy started/ "I was there as well, and I could be certain that you did almost nothing back there except for being confused. Of course that's your fault. And even if you did do something, you think the result's gonna change? The most you could do was to get both you and TigerVespamon killed, and he chose the other option: saving you." She approached him, sealing the corner so that her shadow almost blackened Kaoru's shape. "You really think blaming yourself time to time again is what you can do to redeem yourself?"

"But…"

"It's really a cliché here, but I'll still say it. TigerVespamon would have wanted you to have a happy life instead of punishing yourself every now and then." She pulled Kaoru out of the corner and turned towards Yuzuki. "And I'm quite sure you're hurting her as well."

"Me?" Yuzuki uttered, confused. "No, I'm not hurt. At most, I am worried about him."

"And that's what I was talking about." The older girl said. She turned to Kaoru again and said, "If you're gonna torture yourself mentally, fine. But don't get your girlfriend involved as well."

"Well, let's just drop that, shall we?" Takumi interrupted the conversation. "Shouldn't we be celebrating or doing some pointless chat here now that we're all here?"

"Glad someone's got some senses." Muttered Amy as she rejoined the others. Her face had once been so dark and rigid that it seemed it had been made from a sheet of metal. But now, just a few seconds later, that face was gone completely, replaced by her usual grin and playful eyes, scanning around the room as if something was there catching her attention. She then said, "So, in order to punish you for having broken the mood, here's a question for you." She eyed both Yuzuki and Kaoru.

"Me?" they both asked at once.

"Yes, you two." The older girl said certainly. "I just want to know if you'd have confessed to her if you weren't…you know, dying?"

"Well, I guess…I…" Kaoru started, but couldn't finish the whole sentence as his face reddened a little. There was really no sentence for him to say, really. All he could think of in his mind were just a bunch of words without solid connection, like different pieces of a puzzle. He had been feeling that way lately, most likely because he was nervous.

"Well, would you?" even Yuzuki started to tease him.

"I…I don't know." Kaoru answered reluctantly. "I didn't really know if I would, so…"

"Alright, that's enough here." Amy announced. "I just remembered that you tow haven't even been in a real date at all."

Both of them blushed at once. Amy continued. "Why don't we just let you two go have a day? Wouldn't want to ruin your romance lives."

* * *

It made no sense to Katashi at all, that Dorugoramon, who had been having the highest chance to win, would suddenly choose to abandon the fight and call it off. He should have no reason to spare them and it hadn't seemed that he was just the type that wanted to fight for pleasure. There was something wrong with his logic, Katashi thought. If every enemy they had faced –would face –were this strange, he really had no idea how to lead the team anymore.

"Why are you stopping?" LadyDevimon asked. After quite a long time Katashi could finally locate her. It was obvious that she had been hiding behind some high bushes after she had been struck down.

"I have seen enough." Dorugoramon said, his voice as solemn and deep as always. "There is no more point in fighting."

"What do you mean?" Chirinmon, who had only recovered from his injuries barely, asked. "Aren't we supposed to fight you?"

"I wanted to see your determination, and you have shown me." Dorugoramon gestured at Blue and Green, two freshly Digivolved Digimon. "I meant you no harm in the first place."

"So all this fight is meaningless." Katashi complained. After having such a comfortable morning, he couldn't help but think that wasting their renewed efforts in a fight that was not even a fight a waste of time and spirit. "So why did you challenge us at all?"

"As I have said, I needed to examine your determination."

"You could've just trusted us and show us the way out, you know?" Elsa muttered.

Apparently, Dorugoramon ignored her. "And you have just showed us the noble aspect that this Digimon had once showed us."

"This Digimon?" uttered Kynan. "What do you mean?"

"This Digimon is a Dorugoramon." Said the Mega. "And we are not this being, at least not spiritually."

"I'm starting to get confused." Kaito said. He then asked Kynan, who seemed not ot be having a hard time understanding those strange words. "You figured out the riddle?"

"I guess –just guessing –that we're talking to some kind of being that transcended Digimon themselves." The black-haired boy said. Kaito had no idea what he was saying. This kind of abstract logic really wasn't his area of expertise. He turned to his brother, hoping that he would somehow figure it out, but Rikuto only gave him a shrug. Kynan continued. "It's like someone's using this Dorugoramon to talk with us."

"That is correct." Dorugoramon –or rather, whoever was behind him –said, "We are the woods itself, if you really want that much labeling."

"So, when the merchants got lost, it was not Dorugoramon who helped them?" GrapLeomon muttered. "I still don't get what you're trying to say."

"You will listen, and then you will understand." The Voice of the woods said. "There was once a Dorugoramon who traveled to this place. There, he found a peaceful village built right in the middle of the woods. All was good and orderly, and the Digimon there lived a simple and uninvolved life, where they would suffice to make their living without the outside world's inference. But then one day, seven Digimon appeared here, bearing the name of Great Demon Lords. They demanded leadership and entitled themselves kings and queens, carrying out their tyranny as they had conquered the rest of the world. Unable to bear witness to the destruction brought by the Demons, Dorugoramon fought them alone, sacrificing himself for the rest of the world. It was a fast battle, and Dorugoramon emerged victorious. But the battle had done such injuries that Dorugoramon soon died there. His body decayed, turning into raw codes and data, defusing into and out of the woods. That was the only thing that we had watched that moved us. So, though he died, we carry on his will of protection and guarded this forest, protecting whoever comes forth and repelling whoever admires mischief."

"But you said he's dead." Katashi said. It seemed a question that was out of the topic, but he kind of felt the urge to say it. "How is it that he's now talking with us? You said his body decayed!"

"That is the work of the woods. Though turned into bits of data, the forest preserved it, and when the time comes, regroup them to temporally reform Dorugoramon as the guardian here. It is worth noting that even as we summon him forth, his own mind –will –is preserved and thus, the Dorugoramon that you fought was practically the one who died here."

And at last it made sense to him why he wanted to ask the seemingly irrelevant question that much. The way Kaoru had died, as described by the former Destined, had been so familiar with Dorugoramon's. They both turned into bits of data and disappeared, seemingly for good. But now, with that knowledge, he knew how exactly had Cyberdramon brought Kaoru back to live. The only question remained. Why would Cyberdramon have done such a thing? And now, combined with the knowledge that Kaoru was "a ticking time bomb", he couldn't help but feel the need to move on, quick.

"So, will you help us get to our destination?" he asked numbly.

"We shall."


	22. One step closer

-One step closer-

The entire forest was going to help them. That was one of the most insane notion to have ever come across Katashi's mind, that the whole forest was a somewhat divine being with its own will. But then, it didn't seem particularly unusual, after that had happened –Digimon invading his homeland, Kaoru being resurrected, and all that stuff about a virus strong enough to end a war. Things had somehow seemed too uncontrollable once he had taken up the place as an "official" Digi-Destined.

Right now, standing in front of a reanimated Digimon known as Dorugoramon, his team had earned his trust. Everything would really be fine starting from then on, and they could almost reach the other side of the continent in no time, just like the Bakomon had told him. He just wondered if Dorugoramon could actually made it out of the forest. After all, he was there solely because of the forest's power.

"Guess things are not so bad, now that I come to think about it." Elsa said to him. When he realized that the girl was talking to him, Elsa had already made a face of disapproval as she said that she had asked for Katashi's attention twice in a roll. "You're not supposed to be so rude."

"Sorry, got carried away a little." Katashi replied with a gentle smile. It seemed to him that he hadn't really smiled much since they had arrived at the Digital World. Had he been losing himself during the journey? He couldn't even bear the thought of that. Anyway, now that he had noticed that, he would try to be more himself and less a walking collection of troubles. "Let's move on."

The only thing that bugged him now was the way they were supposed to travel. Yes, Dorugoramon was a giant Digimon, and it could be possible that they just climb onto him and let him make their way, but that just seemed lame. He kind of imagined taking some secret paths with the woods, crossing roads that would sparkle with mysteriously lights and twist and unfold as they walk. But none of that happened. In the end, it was just the old way he had imagined –they had to hang on to Dorugoramon's giant body and let him guide the way.

"Kinda disappointing." He muttered quietly.

Liollmon, who was riding beside him, replied, "How else did you think we're gonna get going?"

"Just keep your focus and try not to fall off."

* * *

There was no need for sightseeing, as there wasn't really much to see. Maybe there really were things to see, to be appreciated, but that was not a luxury the Destined could share. Dorugoramon was really, really fast, traveling at such speed that everything around them didn't even seem like a mixture of colors blurred together. Instead, the speed made everything look the same, not even the colors could survive as Dorugoramon dashed across the forest.

 _Three week_ _'_ _s journey in a day_. Katashi thought while having nothing to do. _That_ _'_ _ll make ours be a day or two. Not that bad._

* * *

Somehow, somewhere in the process of traveling towards their destination, Katashi fell asleep, despite having every reason not to. When he woke the others had already landed, waving hands, saying goodbye to Dorugoramon. He only awoke after Dorugoramon had gone several meters away, and therefore could not express his gratitude without shouting loud, so he did.

"Thanks!" he yelled, waving his hand. Dorugoramon did not look back, but he guessed that he had already gotten the message.

"Finally getting to your senses?" Elsa said, whispering to him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Katashi replied. "There's not a rule that says I couldn't sleep during travel."

"You totally missed the best part of the trip." The girl saidm, her eyes filled with rare enthusiasm that actually made Katashi curious. There wasn't much time when Elsa would seem like an ordinary girl and just act like one, so there must have had been something that had given her such a energized mood. She even smiled a little. Smiled, not grinned.

"And you're about to tell me that, aren't you?"

"No." she answered confidently and firmly. "You think you can just get your sleep and then get everything back without much effort?"

"Well then, you can tell me what to do." Katashi said, to which Elsa only gave a little grin and a wink of disapproval that got Katashi even more curious. He asked again, a bit more friendly this time, but she still wouldn't talk. It took a few minutes before he realized that he could talk to Elsa like a normal friend, but not the mischievous and exceedingly annoying girl he knew. Somehow, it felt just like a usual chat he would perform at school with his other friends. He had totally forgotten that he was still in the Digital World and still had much danger to face.

"I say we move on, fast." Kudamon disrupted the conversation, but that didn't anger the both of them much. Instead, Katashi just smiled gently and said, "Sorry, got a bit carried away there."

Kudamon turned, returned to Kynan's shoulder and rested there, not giving another word. Katashi could understand his serious nature. It had been more then one time that Kudamon had made the team some real progress by behaving that way. But that just seemed a bit not enough for him, like he was distancing himself from the rest of the team. Katashi wondered how Kynan had befriended him in the first place. Despite his distance, he seemed quite nice to Kynan, and even showed care for him, something the others could never dream of.

Deciding to move on, Katashi checked the location map on his Digivice, and was immediately impressed by what he found out. Their trip had been fast, way faster than he'd ever dared imagine. Just a few days ago they were still in the middle of what appeared to be a giant continent, indicated by a large, irregularly shaped shaded area. A red dot had been there to indicate their destination, and it had been way too far from where the indicator of the Destined had been. But now, the red dot was so close to the blue one that indicated the Destined's current location that the two dots seemed to overlap one another. There would still be the need for walking, though, since wherever they were headed was clearly out of the area of the forest.

"That's some luck here." Liollmon reminded him that he wasn't the only one being impressed. "I thought we'd waste a whole lot of time just trying to get to here."

"Well, now that we're here, what about you shut up and start moving?" LaduDevimon said as she joined the others and walked towards the only direction they knew to go. Soon, Katashi and Liollmon would be left behind. Still, Katashi turned back and had one last look at the forest. There was a certain unsettling feeling about him that he felt like he would never see something of such beauty forever –or maybe just for a while.

"We've got to keep up." Liollmon uttered "You're the supposed leader, after all."

"Yeah, got to hurry."

* * *

When the greenery was completely out of sight, the Destined stopped for a tiny break. Everything seemed so different now that it felt like they had moved out of the forest for at least a few days. The colors around them had turned into a dull lot of brown, ranging from the dark brown that formed the sandy ground to the lighter ones that hovered midair and the pinkish one that was shown right under the harsh sunlight. It was a desert, again. It wasn't a discouraging sight, though. They had already gotten used to the fact the apparently half the Digital World was made of sandy deserts.

"I just feel like something is off." Ren said, drinking a tiny drop of water that remained in her bag. The team had not remembered to restock their supplies during their time spent in the village, and thus water had become one of the most priced items they had. "It seemed a bit too easy, don't you think?"

"I'd prefer it being easy rather than harsh." Rikuto said. It was always him that first answered Ren's questions that the girl had grown kind of tired of him and jokingly said that he should "give others the honor".

"And now that we've gotten here, what's next?" Blue asked in a similar fashion. "I think we have kind of drifted off track ever since we had set our sights here."

"We don't really know what to do." Kynan answered. "As far as we know, Cyberdramon wanted us here to do something he couldn't, about retrieving some sort of metal he wanted…"

"Chrome Digizoid." Interrupted Katashi. "That's how he called them."

"Well, whatever that's called, we're supposed to take them from someone, if I remember correctly."

"Why did we even agree to help him in the first place?" sarcastically, Elsa said. "Oh right, he had something we wanted. But why had anyone not think of just killing him and end all of these once and for all? I mean, it's always been about him, hasn't it?"

"That is, if we can." Katashi replied, sighing. "And there's something he hadn't explained to us yet. That Mephistomon, his plan with Kaoru and all that."

"Take down the leader and the rest will just fall apart." The girl said in a fashion so uncaring that it seemed she had been invisible to the events that had happened over the last few days.

"Yeah? Then why haven't you suggested that when we first had the chance to kill him?"

"You're supposed to be the leader; you made the call, and everyone just followed."

"That's because I thought there was something more going on."

"Or was it just that you wanted to be the hero once and get yourself some applause?"

"Of course I'm not!"

Before any of them could say another word, Liollmon stepped in between them, speechless. He just glanced at the girl, and then to his own partner, making them distance themselves from one another before Katashi showed some signs of regrets. Clearly, he had not meant to get anyone into a fight.

"Thanks for that." He said quietly to Liollmon. "Guess I owe you one from now one."

"Don't be." Liollmon replied, his voice steady but friendly. "It's not the first time I stop you from being a hothead."

"So what do we do from now on?" he said, approaching Elsa, who had turned her back on hm and was apparently keeping her mouth shut for a silent treatment. It amazed him that she could actually remain quiet for more than ten seconds out of her own will. It sure would be hard for her, he thought.

"If you don't mind the interruption, we still have some more walking to do before we actually get there." Green said. He had been one of the few that didn't need much resting. The only others being Blue and Valkyrimon, who had insisted to stand guard and watch over the party while they rested.

"So we should get going." Katashi said.

* * *

The first thing he could think of after half an hour's walk was that he was glad they had made it to the destination without being ambushed by some wild Digimon that would just jump out of bushes randomly. So the nothingness of the desert was actually something good. At least they didn't have to watch their back. But the memory of the spiders attack was still fresh, and he would still pay attention to every step he took.

"And so we're here." Kaito exclaimed, scanning his surroundings. Unsurprisingly, things were as invisible as before. He had grown tired of this sight. "What do we do now?"

"Maybe we could ask Cyberdramon, if he's even around us." Liollmon complained. That compliant, however, had turned into reality sooner than anyone could have thought. And a second later, they saw what they needed the most from the beginning –a dimensional vortex appeared out of the thin air, lightning curling over its edges, and out jumped Cyberdramon, landing harshly such that much dirt was sent rocketing upwards. A second later, the gate was closed.

"Well. You could've just let us use that." Blue complained.

"And let you do whatever you want with that? I don't think so." Replied the cyborg, the dots on his head beeping randomly as he spoke. "Not until you have fulfilled my request, at least."

"And please do tell us why we shouldn't just kill you on the spot? That idea just came up to me." Uttered Elsa. LadyDevimon, having been standing by her side, stepped forward and raised her hands, readied for combat.

"Well, firstly, because you can't." Cyberdramon began. "And secondly, you need me to fulfill your task as well."

Katashi struggled to find the correct words to say. He hated it, but he had to admit that Cyberdramon was right. For the last few weeks, their actions had all been driven by him, and, by being kept in the dark corners, he had nothing else to do but to follow. What else could they have done without Cyberdramon? And most importantly, Cyberdramon had been quiet very restrain on himself. There was one question he couldn't answer. "Tell us, then, why haven't you used your device and get to the virus before we do? Why give us a chance to beat you?"

"Because, well, I guess you know the answer already, but just wouldn't admit that you do." Cyberdrramon answered with a note of creepy laugh at the end of the sentence.

"Quit speaking in riddles and answer our question." Kudamon demanded.

"Oh, if I remember correctly you are the one I found outside _their_ world, aren't you?" That's the first thing Cyberdramon could think of, apparently. He leaned forwards a little, walked maybe a step or two before speaking again. "Maybe you'll tell me kindly why you're so close to those who abandoned you in the wild? And you as well." His head tilted a little, facing Kynan. "And you as well. Why do you even get yourself involved in a fight that's not yours?"

"It was you who came to us, if I remember correctly." Said Kynan coldly; his voice hardly audible while his eyes fixed themselves upon Cyberdramon. His whole body had gone rigid and he was standing as still as a statue. Whatever happening inside his head would not be something pleasant to remember, the others guessed. Katashi had almost forgotten that Kynan had fought Cyberdramon once, when they hadn't met each other.

"I have my own schedule, you see. And you have been complying to it quite well, so far." Cyberdramon continued, his words now sounded nothing more than plain and textbook-accurate insanity. Whatever meaning he hid in the words, they weren't conveyed effectively. "And now you're gonna help me do one last thing before I officially have the reason to take you down one by one."

"Or maybe we just take you down here and end this once and for all." Blue said, chuckles of flames showing themselves around his mouth as if something were being cooked behind his teeth. "You have beaten you once before, you know."

"About that, you can ask your friendly friend standing next to you." The cyborg said, appearing as if he never noticed the threat in those words. He seemed a bit too calm.

Blue turned to Katashi, who had been mentioned by Cyberdramon. Reluctantly, Katashi opened his mouth, took in a few heavy breaths of air and sighed before any sound of particular meaning is formed. "He's got Kaoru." He faced the ground, eyes leaving the immediate threat standing in front of him. "He said he was a ticking time bomb, didn't he? I fear that something would happen back home if we don't handle this carefully. And, he's still got Mephistomon, who we don't really know much about."

"That's a perfect answer. You should learn more from him, really." Said Cyberdramon. "So now you have a reason not to kill me. What else do you want to know?"

"Stop saying it as if we playing a game with you." Valkyrimon drew out her sword, pointing it straight towards Cyberdramon as she moved forward swiftly, the tip of the blade touching his neck.

"But you just acknowledged that killing me would do you no good." Cyberdramon uttered, his voice as calm as always, which made him only more menacing. "So basically you're not threatening me at all."

"Just tell us what to do!" Liollmon demanded. Despite having degenerated, he was ready to Digivolve any time should a battle break out. "We're getting tired of talking!"

"That's the attitude." Muttered Cyberdramon. "Well, since you've come so far already, I guess I'll just have to trust you on the job."

"It is you whose credibility is to be doubted!" Ren uttered. "I've heard quite a lot about you on the way here."

"So you must know not to anger me, don't you?"

"Quit that for now." Rikuto whispered to her, pulling her to his side. "We're getting nowhere if things keep going on like this."

"Now that's something to be appreciated." Cyberdramon said. "\Know what to prioritize."

"Just tell us what you want."

"Well, get yourselves ready. You're not going to like what I want you to do."

"Just spit it out!"

"You will help me exterminate a village."

"You're joking." Somehow, the first response Katash had was not getting into a seriously big shock. He remembered too well what Cyberdramon had told him back in the Human World, that right now, inside his broken yet still functional head was some remains of Piedmon's consciousness, with the original Cyberdramon's intelligence. Almost anything could be expected to come out of this freak's mouth. He secretly admired the old Destined, who had to go against this insane villain. He was starting to feel like he would be driven mad before he could go home.

"No I'm not." Said Cyberdramon, his feet tapping the ground with a mild frequency before he took of and levitated himself midair, looking down at the Destined. "You all know well that I am not the joking type." His voice suddenly sounded solid and edgy. "You will find a village somewhere west to here. Well, that is, if that could be called a village. I traced all the way to here and know that they have the metal that belonged to _me_!"

"And so you want revenge on them? That's childish." Kynan said.

"That would be, if that's really a village. As far as I know, they are producing weapons. To do what, who knows? I just know that it'd be too great a threat if I let them live. You see, I've still got a world to rule after all this is said and done. Wouldn't want someone to have the potential to disrupt my rule."

"And yet you're too weak to go yourself." Katashi said, obviously taunting him. If, just by any chance, that he could actually enrage Cyberdramon, he thought he would do it, simply because that would make an easier opponent if he really needed to fight Cyberdramon. There's no other ways to duel with psychopaths like that without first getting them distracted. He wondered silently why he hadn't sent Mephistomon to do his work, but decided to keep the idea to himself, wishing that Cyberdramon had simply just forgotten his subordinate, though the odds were really likely.

"I have got something way more important than that." Said Cyberdramon, followed by a sarcastic laugh that Katashi never thought he would see on that Digimon. "I have faith in you, as you humans always say."

"And what if we don't go?" demanded Katashi. He had taken a step forward and now stood the closest to Cyberdramon, the entire team behind him. "You knew pretty well we won't, so what's your plan?"

"I don't care," Cyberdramon had now drawn his spear, spinning and hurling it between his long, slender fingers, giving a clicking sound every time the weapon came into contact with his hand. "You'll go there, whether you like it or not?"

"And why would we do that?"

"Because you think of yourself as the hero. You would go there, whether you like it or not, and you will try to protect those vicious lives that don't worth saving."

"…" Unable to think of another word to say, Katashi subtly stepped back. He never thought things would turn out that way. He, for the first time since he had come to the Digital World, felt afraid. Cyberdramon knew exactly what was going in his mind, and had thus almost gained control over the team. If he had already known everything, than everything Katashi and the rest had done had been pointless but conforming to Cyberdramon's plan. Who knows? Maybe one day, when they thought they were protecting others, they were actually helping Cyberdramon kill more. There was simply no way the team could shake off Cyberdramon's involvement.

"Made up you mid already?" the cyborg taunted.

"We'll go." Katashi replied lowly. "But not to help you kill more. We will stop you."

"I'm glad you think that way."

* * *

"We're not really gonna do what he told us, are we?" Green questioned as the Destined approached the gate of their destination. Unlike any other villages or settlement they had come across, this village, if it could be called that way, featured specifically thick walls that were made of somewhat a mixture of solid clay and wood. The entire interior of the village was invisible, and it seemed that not too many people were going in and out of the main gate.

"Don't know why, but it gives me creeps." Uttered Rikuto.

"Scared?" Ren whispered to him.

"You daresay you're not at all nervous?"

"We'll figure that out when we enter there."

It took no time at all to enter the village. The gate had been wide-open, and there were, amazingly, no one to stand guard, as if every resident there feared nothing from outside. In a manner of speaking, It could be called the paradise for all those who practised thievery.

As they walked in, however, everything became clear. The air there seemed to be covered constantly with acrid smoke, sunlight barely penetrating the thick layer of smog. The Digimon there didn't seem normal as well. In a manner of speaking, most Digimon there seemed alerted, with mean looks and very limited chatter. Booths like shops scattered across the complicated roads and alleyways and there were a constant flow of Digimon of all kinds, almost moving in a unilateral direction. Even some Fresh Digimon were there on their own, and the higher level Digimon were there murmuring.

"Why do I get a bad feeling about this?" muttered Kaito. The scene was kind of fresh to him -something that he had never seen before, not even in books or TV.

"I'll agree with you on this one." Liollmon uttered. "It looks more like a black market than a village."

"Black market?" Kynan muttered, sounding surprised.

"You don't know what's a black market?" asked Liollmon. Kynan shook his head. "It's kind of a place

where illegal trades are carried out. Never been to one, though."

"I guess people at my home didn't have the luxury for such places."

"Things just seem to get worse." Muttered Elsa. "Maybe destroying this place isn't that bad an option, after all."

"Forget it." said Katashi, his tone commanding. "We are not here to destroy anything, whether you like it or not."

"Somehow I don't think we'll be welcome here." muttered Liollmon.

* * *

Everything seemed normal and peaceful, despite the fact that someone was fighting in her stead. Yuzuki wondered for a moment if her life would be like this had she never come across Magnamon and become a Digi-Destined. She had forgotten her old self for quite some time. The Digital World had transformed her into someone completely different. Yet, there she was now, dating the boy she liked without having to worry about the end of the world, or both worlds. She kind of felt guilty that she had left Jesmon on his own. Surely he would understand her motives, she hope.

"So, we're we gonna go next?" Yuzuki held Kaoru's arm as she half guided, half dragged him to move forward. They had spent most of the day wandering the entire district of Rn without a solid plan on what to do. Though she could almost recite the entire map of Rn, revisiting places she knew with Kaoru felt kind of different, as if she had just moved to a totally foreign district and was eager to go to every corner of the place.

"I don't know. You seem to know here better than I do." Replied Kaoru.

"That's because you spend most of your time at home or at school." Buttered Yuzuki. "I can hardly imagined how boring it must have been, spending all your time at the school and the dormitory. Well, at least you now stay in a family."

"Yeah, thanks for you." Kaoru said and smiled subtly. To his surprise, Yuzuki suddenly took out her phone from nowhere and the next thing he knew, there was the sound of a click. Leaning close to Yuzuki, he saw that she had just taken a photo of him smiling. Amazingly, despite the quick move, the photo had quite some good focus.

"You look better when you smile." said Yuzuki. "You really should smile more."

"It's not like I don't like smile much; I just am not that kind."

"I know." said Yuzuki. "Which makes it a lot more precious."

Somewhere, in all direction, a voice came to Kaoru. "Enough with all that already."

Astonished, Kaoru quickly scanned his surroundings, yet he couldn't locate the source of it. Apparently confused, Yuzuki asked Kaoru what was wrong. This time, Kaoru admited quickly that something must have been wrong with his head, that somehow he was hearing voices that only he could hear. Yuzuki assured him that it might just be the side effects of having come back from the dead, to which Kaoru agreed. Swiftly they found an empty bench, settling there.

"There's something wrong with me. I knew it." Kaoru muttered.

"I just wish I could share the pain with you." said Yuzuki. "It must have been hard for you. If only there's a way to cure that..."

"There is none." The voice sounded again, only this time it wasn't just Kaoru who could hear it. From Yuzuki's disoriented look, she could hear the same voice as well. A moment later, the glass windows from a nearby wall shattered, all hurling outwards as though an explosion had just occured inside. Then came a flash of lilac light, followed by a shadowed figure pacing pleasently out of the burst.

"Cyberdramon!" within just a millisecond, Yuzuki identified the figure. She was scared, now, seeing that Jesmon was nowhere near them.

"What are you trying to do here?" Kaoru demanded despite the light-headedness that had caused him dizziness.

"Nothing harmful." Said the cyborg as he approached the two. "I didn't even bring weapons here."

"Then stay away from us!" Kaoru yelled as they took steps backwards slowly. "Haven't you done enough with me?"

Cyberdramon ignored him and proceeded keeping the distance between them constant.

More and more they went, until they found out that they had been forced into a dead end. Now, in the alleyway where light could barely be acknowledged, the silhouette of Cyberdramon was the only thing they could make out in the darkness.

"I meant what I said." said Cyberdramon, closing in. "But I cannont leave you alone. Because, unfortunately, I'm here to have a check on you, Kaoru."

"What do you mean?" demanded Yuzuki, shoving Kaoru behind her.

Cyberdramon, as always, ignored the girl and kept on saying what only he could understand. "Unfortunately, the progress seems a bit disappointing here." with that said, a Gate appeared right behind him, and he flew backwards to the Gate, facing the two as he disappeared.

* * *

 **Important note: Due to certain circumstances (me being lazy), the next update might take more than a week, so don't be disappointed, my two followers. Despite that, I'll keep working and try to gring some progress, but as of now, I'm still writing chapter 23, which should have been done a week ago. Still, please keep reading and if possible, give me some advise via reviewing. Thanks~**


	23. Departing Gate

-Departing Gate-

Almost immediately after having entered the village, Katashi felt a sense of regret and longed only to get out of there soon. He had come to accept that not every place in the Digital World was nice and dreamy like those in fairy tales, but he had not expected somewhere like this. He assumed that the way Digimon kept themselves hidden in the shadows lurking around was the major cause of his discomfort.

 _No turning back now._ He forced the idea to reinforce in his mind, but couldn't help thinking that he should at least have had Liollmon Digivolved first. Now that most of the Destined were walking with their partner at Rookie form, it felt as though they were going to be taken advantage of.

"Just try to be scary." That's the only advice LadyDevimon gave the group. Yet, only she and Valkyrimon were the ones capable of doing so. The sight of human was very unusual in the Digital World, so it was not unreasonable that Katashi kept feeling someone was watching their every moves.

"So what's our plan here?" Kaito whispered, not daring to speak too loud.

"We ask for information. What else could we do?" Ren replied. "Maybe we should be doing that by now. I'll just take a look forward..."

"No!" Rikuto called her off a moment later, after one of her heels had just left the ground. "We can't split up here."

"But that's the faster way!"

"No. He's right; we can't afford to get lost here. Who knows what we might bump into?" Valkyrimon assured her partner. "It may be slow, but it's the only way we can stay safe."

"Speaking of that," uttered Elsa, "I'm still wondering why we have to be here to work for _him._ Would he not be enough to go through this place alone?"

"Maybe we should just take care of ourselves and get out of here fast." Blue suggested. "If Cyberdramon dared not come here, and we left, nothing would happen, would it?"

"He's got backup, that's for sure." Said Katashi. However he hated it, he couldn't shake off the thought of Kaoru getting in danger. That would only mean danger for Yuzuki. Cyberdramon had basically kidnapped two of his friends to make him do whatever he said.

 _But they don't have to get involved._ A thought came to him so suddenly that he started to suspect if the thought was foreign.

"Maybe I should go alone and the rest of you should go home." He suggested. By the looks of the others, he could easily tell that they disapproved his idea. "Cyberdramon has something to threaten me with, but you guys don't have to stay here. He's got nothing to threaten you with."

"That's where you get it wrong." Kudamon said. "Everyone is in danger as long as his plan succeeds. You really think he would just leave the rest of the world alone because you do a favor for him?"

"I'm not doing him any favor!" Katashi retorted.

"We all are, since the time we decided to follow his command." The Rookie replied. "The irony is that, we have no choice. By trying to stop him, we actually become the ones to help him."

"Well it stops here." interrupted Liollmon. "Haven't we just decided not to do as he told us?"

"But every single move of ours is still being predicted, precisely, by him." Said Katashi. His tone could not be more discouraging.

"So why are you all still talking nonsense while he's on his move?" Elsa uttered. It was, quite surprisingly, one of the few times where her words actually made a point. "Should we not hurry?"

"Yeah, let's move on." Uttered Katashi lightly, and move one they did.

* * *

Kaoru still remembered what Cyberdramon had said to him, about him being too slow in progress. In progress of what? he thought it through and through and could not figure out even a single clue regarding the topic. Something was wrong with him, that much he had come to accept, but the frustrating part was that he didn't know exactly what's wrong with him. It felt like having no idea on a writing paper, nowhere to start with, just an empty mind.

"You shouldn't let that bother you too much." Said Jesmon as he walked by his room.

"I just can't stop thinking, even if I want to." Kaoru replied. "You weren't there, so you don't know how it feels. But the moment I saw his face again, I just felt my heart pumping faster than ever before. It's almost like I was afraid of him, or of myself."

"You cannot allow him to take more from you." Said the Mega. Kaoru had not talked to him since he had come back. He remembered Jesmon being kind of a friend to TigerVespamon, and was overcome by the shame and guilt that he did not only caused his partner to die, he had taken a friend from everyone who knew him as well, and that was just too hard to be set aside.

"Maybe I'll figure it out on my own." He muttered. "I might be dangerous around here."

"Your point?" asked Jesmon.

"I might endanger Yuzuki and you, and everyone around here." Said the blonde boy. "He came looking for me, so maybe I shouldn't be around you when it happens again. Maybe that way you'll be safer."

"We all know he wouldn't stop for you." Jesmon said, his voice solid and alerting. "And what do you think would happen to Yuzuki if you run off on your own? She had lost a friend, lost a love, and then a friend again. What do you think would happen if her newly regained love leaves her again? She could not take that much impact."

"But..."

"You are not the only one to care about the others." Jesmon continued. "You care about Yuzuki, but she cares about you as well. You don't want her hurt, and she doesn't want you hurt either. There is no way you two be separated without a catastrophic result. You need each other, especially in times like this."

"But I don't even know about myself." Kaoru muttered. "What if I snapped again and did something more horrible? What then? What if I hurt Yuzuki again?"

"Then I will prevent you from doing so, by whatever means."

"You will?"

"You are not the only one who cares about Yuzuki." said Jesmon, his voice suddenly becoming cold and menacing. "I will stop you if necessary."

"I'm counting on that."

* * *

A WereGarurumon said nothing, had no facial expression at all, and remained quite still, not even moving the slightest bits of his muscles to even just catch a breath.

"Sorry we disturbed you." Katashi, representing the entire group, said apologetically, though there was really nothing that he should be apologizing for. He turned to the group, who stood behind him, saying nothing, and shook his head slightly, indicating a failure.

"Maybe we should find someone meaner to talk." Suggested Elsa. "You know, you're too much of a good boy to really let anyone notice you."

"You seem like a perfect candidate." Katashi replied. "So why don't you try it yourself?"

The girl said nothing, grinning, and turned to Kynan, who was leaning against a wall, eyes fixed to the ground as though he was half-sleeping and half-awaken. She proceeded and did a little poke on his shoulder, which seemed not to have really startled him a lot, and grinned again. "What about you?"

"Why would I do that?"

"You know, it's not really nice to let a girl talk to a bunch of menacing strangers. Plus, I'm not scary enough to get anyone to talk." Elsa said. "You want to get something done, don't you?"

"Guess I've no choice." Kynan muttered before gesturing to Kudamon, who jumped off his shoulder swiftly and silently, and then Digivolved into Chirinmon, standing by Kynan's side. The two then walked in front of the group, and approached another Digimon. It seemed kind of redundant to just talk to the one who had made his stance. i.e. not interested in the destined.

They found a nicer looking Digimon, known as a Dinohumon, and asked the questions again. "Do you know where to find the ones with the Chrome Digizoid?" Said Kynan. his speech was a bit more casual and informal, as opposed to Katashi, who always added "sir" or "ma'am" in between the lines. Kynan was textbook-rude, and his low volume made himself sound a little more so. Maybe that's what Elsa had talked about, being not nice.

"We don't care for a human child here." Said the Dinohumon, turning his back on the Destined and preparing to leave. "You're getting in my way."

"And we will continue to do so until you tell us something." Said Chirinmon, taking a step forward, stopping the Dinohumon from advancing. "So, you have anything to say?"

"This doesn't look good." Kaito whispered. "They're taking things too dangerously."

"Agreed." Blue replied, also in a whisper. "We might need to fight again very soon."

There were a few more audible babblings, and then, without even a verbal warning, a huge bang, and then several cracking sounds and screams from most passer-bys could be heard. When Kaito turned around and saw the origins of all of that, he had to stop for a moment or two to comprehend roughly about what was actually happening. To him, it seemed that everything around him had been turned into some sort of weird low-resolution video.

It would not appear much simpler: somehow Kynan had failed in his negotiation with the Dinohumon. A number of crushed wooden piles and rubbles filled the air space between Chirinmon and the Dinohuman, and then there was the sharp glistening of Dinohuman's giant sword against the horn on Chirinmon's head. The two stayed in motion for a while, and eventually Dinohumon, being merely a Champion, had the lower hand in the battle and was forced to back away while losing his grip on his sword and staggered backwards, losing balance and falling to his knees.

"Maybe now you'll change your mind about us being unworthy of your time." Said Chirinmon, looking down at the fallen Digimon.

Dinohumon cooperated this time, having neither excuse nor strength to rebel. It turned out that he did know something about the Chrome Digizoid the Destined seek. If he hadn't lied, which was not likely seeing that he would be surrounded by six Digimon, each being more than capable of finishing him off in a few moves, the information he provided would really be of great help. At the eastern end of the village, there was a particular building that most other Digimon dared not enter due to either the abnormally high temperature the building emitted or the Digimon that resided within that place.

"Strangely high temperature?" Katashi wondered. But it made sense. The metal they were searching for would need to stay in molten state so that whoever owned it could craft it into whatever weapons, armor, or just decorative products they needed.

Despite the repeated warning by the Dinohumon, the group proceeded, seeing no paths other than going on the most hazardous one. It looked like a suicide mission, going to somewhere where the Digimon there was feared by even black marketers. But they had no choice but to go, plus, they had, like it or not, overcome more than one tough crucibles. Nothing could stop them.

* * *

"So this is the place that even Cyberdramon dreaded." Elsa uttered as she tiptoed and lightly whistled. "It doesn't really look that bad."

The building itself was of nothing particularly special –just a torn out wall that was covered in patches of reddish brown rust. To Katashi, it looked like just some of the old industrial buildings back in the Human World, with a blocky nature and, apparently not intended for Digimon usage, a door that would only roughly fit the size of a normal grown man. It appeared that this building had originally been built by the humans when they were still living in the Digital World. And then, as all history lessons had taught, somehow the Digital World had been gone and no more humans remained in the Digital World.

"But it's really quite hot here." Katashi complained a little as they group examined the building closely and carefully, endeavoring not to make any audible sounds during their scouting. To Digimon, they looked awfully tiny, which was a good thing, since that gave them the element of surprise and plenty of room to sneak into.

* * *

About an hour had gone, though it only felt like minutes to them. The security of the building was laughably weak, having almost no Digimon or defensive mechanisms. The Digimon that occupied the building was really just living by its fame, and that might be the reason Cyberdramon, in his torn and battle-damaged form, dared not venture there alone.

But that didn't mean things would be any easier for the Destined.

Just the thought of helping Ccyberdramon was more than enough reason to retreat. The Destined was now very close to their current target, but who knew what would come next? They were supposed to take down Cyberdramon, but now it seemed that the goal was unreachable. Everything they had done from the beginning, it was just done according to Cyberdramon's plan, and they had even no way to defy it.

 _Not when we finish this_. Thought Katashi. That was the only reason to keep him moving –that everything would be back on track once they had finished it. Silently he turned to his teammates, gave them a serious look that replaced any questions. They all nodded in unison, and nodded at once. They were going. It was now or never.

The way in wasn't really the hardest part. In fact, it felt a bit too simple at this point. The only thing that worried him was the inevitable sounds of their footsteps. He especially hated the echoes. They sounded too much like unpaid sirens, alerting the owner of this place and revealing their track. _Let_ _'_ _s hope this one_ _doesn't_ _have good hearing._

Unfortunately, he was wrong. The second that thought appeared, sounded that belonged not to them appeared. Within the dimly lit building, clicking sounds like gears in motion appeared everywhere all at once, as though the building itself was a giant motor and the walls were starting to move. That, however, was not the case. The simple truth was that a mechanical Digimon with dark, rust-like armor that seemed a bit too heavy for any articulation. Bearing the similarity of a Tyranomon, this Digimon took heavy steps towards the Destined from a heavily shaded region such that at first, only the silhouette of it could be seen.

The Digivices, nevertheless, were more than efficient at identifying the stranger.

"Rust Tyranomon, Mega, Virus type"

"So it's one fight after another?" Blue muttered before Digivolving. It took about half a minute, but that was enough for each Digimon to Digivolved into their strongest form available. Thankfully Rust Tyranomon was a bit slower than average, giving the Destined an upper hand at the fight.

"Blaze Sonic Breath!"

"Scrapless Claw!"

"Darkness Wave!"

The three of them attacked at once, resulting in the usual smokescreen that was created by the fast vaporization of the Blaze Sonic Breath. The acrid smoke in the already unclear room made it even more impossible to see. There was no sound, so hopefully they had either defeated Rust Tyranomon in one hit, or the Mega was not injured at all. The latter was, unfortunately, true.

Before the smoke faded a giant, silvery claw reached out and slammed itself at whatever was in range, sending both Ladydevimon and Green hurling towards opposite walls. Blue, being airborne, avoided the attack and attempted to strike again, this time keeping a greater distance from Rust Tyranomon, accelerating by spinning around until he became too fast to even obtain a blur of him. He then flew straight at Rust Tyranomon, shouting, "Wing Blast!"

GrapLeomon joined the strike, shouting "The King of Fist!" as he dashed towards Rust Tyranomon as tiny cyclones started to form on either arm of him. When he was closing in to Rust Tyranomon, he threw a punch to the empty air, and let the cyclones flew straight to the Mega.

Still, Rust Tyranomon stood very fine as though nobody had really attacked him. Then, before anyone could react, Rust Tyranomon's cannon turned luminescent. Everyone retreated temporarily, staying aside from the line of fire, but that was a bit too late. Brilliant light shone all about the otherwise completely dark room, lasting for seconds until everything turned dark again all in a sudden.

"Everyone all right?" Katashi, having been one of the few who completely evaded the attack, shouted. Though that revealed his location, he had to shout out just to make his worries gone. When he rose up and took a pip around while hiding behind some sort of box, he could see that the battle had been devastating. Valkyrimon, the only Mega in the team, was severely wounded by the blast, unable to continue the fight in her current condition.

Katahsi's shout had clearly gotten Rust Tyranomon's attention, for the giant Digimon now turned to his position, each step of his gave the ground a slight quake. Katashi ran swiftly, trying to escape Rust Tyranomon's attention by hiding behind the boxes, changing positions every once in a while, hoping that the Digimon could not locate him precisely and buying time for the others. That was, however, not the best option, as Rust Tyranomon seemed to be very sensitive, changing his direction every time Katashi changed position, putting his efforts in vain.

Rust Tyranomon's cannon charged again, blinding light forming a perfect circle around the cannon.

"Not so fast!" GrapLeomon yelled as he leaped from somewhere behind Rust Tyranomon, landing on the giant cannon on his back. Apparently disturbed, Rust Tyranomon jerked about, shaking his entire body, trying to get rid of GrapLeomon. And he did, except now he had lost his target, and there was little time to lock on to Katashi. The blast fired anyway, destroying a wall near Katashi and approaching him as the machine Digimon searched for any targets. Before it could hit Katashi, however, GrapLeomon leaped out from the other side, where Rust Tyranomon had thrown him to, and grabbed Katashi tight as they both flew towards their left, hitting the ground hard, though the pain was nothing compared to getting hit by a giant cannon.

"GrapLeomon!" Katashi uttered as he got up. His partner, lying beside him, was not so lucky. Apparently having been hit by the blast, GrapLeomon could barely stood. He tried to rise up, but couldn't. Katashi, desperate to help his friend get up since Rust Tyranomon was headed their way, shook GrapLeomon's barely conscious body as tears started to make their way out of his eyes and onto GrapLeomon's armor. They would be finished for sure if they didn't move fast. That couldn't happen. He didn't want such thing to happen; he did not approve it; he feared it.

GrapLeomon's body started to glow a mystical light. At first Katashi thought it was the sign of him dying, returning to a Digi-egg, but then he recognized something. GrapLeomon wasn't bleeding data stream like most Digimon would when dying, instead he looked more like being surrounding in a cocoon of light. Katashi remembered seeing it somewhere, sometime before. GrapLeomon was Digivolving.

The light was obvious too much for anyone, as even Rust Tyranomon's action was halted a second later, the Digimon stood, a long black coat extending from its shoulder. He looked more like Leomon now, without all the mechanical armor on GrapLeomon.

"BanchoLeomon, Mega, Vaccine type." Katashi's Digivice read.

Without a word, BanchoLeomon rushed towards Rust Tyranomon as if the previous wounds had magically disappeared. Moving fast, he circled around, leaving Rust Tyranomon nothing to but but to turn left and right repeatedly to lock on to a specific target. Seizing the time when Rust Tyranomon was confused, BanchoLeomon jumped straight towards him, his blade holding tight in his hand, and shouted, "King Lion!" slashing the Tyranomon from head to toe.

That, still, couldn't do much damage to Rust Tyranomon, though his armor had now been covered in clear slash wounds, each cut mark almost an inch deep. BanchoLeomon didn't let it rest, and repeated his attack again, this time focusing on the wound. Cracks extended from the wound like a spider-web, and Rust Tyranomon was simply too slow to follow BanchoLeomon's attacks. Again and again, BanchoLeomon succeeded in wearing down Rust Tyranomon, making it even slower than it originally was.

And then, a noise occurred, and Rust Tyranomon ceased to function, lying on the ground the instant the noise was made.

"What happened?" BanchoLeomon uttered in wonder. But when he saw the purple vortex like light from behind, he could not be more certain. "So you made us fight him, so you could be the back-stabber!"

Cyberdramon, retrieving his lance from Rust Tyranomon, said pleasantly, "Of course. What else would you expect?" Mephistomon, then, came out of the gate as well before it closed for good.

The Destined Digimon readied themselves despite having just been put through a tough fight and was now in much need of rest and recovery. Mephistomon made the already dark room look even creepier, hovering midair as he came towards the Destined without moving a limb at all. He looked straight out like a puppet.

"What're you doing here?" BanchoLeomon demanded as he started towards Cyberdramon, his blade in hand. As expected, Mephistomon interfered and got in front of Cyberdramon before the blade could hit him, taking the damage in his stead. Despite that, Mephistomon looked relatively unharmed, using a hand to grab on to the sword, halting its advance down to his torso.

"Now now, would you just be patient and let me explain everything?" said Cyberdramon in a playful tone, as if he wasn't even in a fight and that the fallen Rust Tyranomon beside him was nothing but decoration. "I assume you and I have come to quite an agreement that we shouldn't really fight each other. After all, you have proven yourselves to be capable servants to me."

"We had a deal!" Katashi snarled. "And don't even think that we would help you out again."

"Alright, take it easy," Said Cyberdramon. "I will keep my promise. But first, aren't you curious at why I needed to put down the Digimon here?" he turned and looked down at Rust Tyranomon. He was not dead yet, but was not quite alive either. "Our guest here was the one who stole my precious metal components a year ago. Nothing was really clear, except that he seemed to be forging weapons with the Chrome Digizoid –my Chrome Digizoid. And I couldn't let that happen, could I?" he was met with mean and demanding stares. "Let's just skip to the point. I needed my metal, and now you've gotten it for me. What say you? Should I just keep my promise?" he held out a little device. It looked like a Digivice, except that it had a more streamline, aerodynamic shape to it, with its silver surface glistening quite well under the dim illumination.

"That's what I promised you, isn't it?" he said loudly as if he actually had an audience to listen. "And now, I give it to you." He tossed the device midair.

It happened so fast that none of the Destined could react. The moment the device left Cyberdramon's hand, the Digimon had come charging towards the Destined, his lance spinning fast as he hurled it towards them. Mephistomon followed behind, charging at the Destined.

"Should have seen it coming." Muttered LadyDevimon as she used one arm to defend herself from the rotating lance and charged forward, a bunch of tiny bats made of shadows flew towards Cyberdramon just as LadyDevimon made a smooth gesture.

Blue joined as well, letting out a breath of energy that would have hit Cyberdramon had Mephistomon not intervened. Losing balance due to being hit by the Ultimate, Blue mistakenly turned and his attack could not hit Cyberdramon, instead meeting the little device that was still hovering midair, having not yet come to the ground. The moment the blast hit the device, a bright light shot from the device and surrounded it before a horribly loud noise sounded. A Gate had been opened, and it landed somewhere far away from the main battle field.

Desperately Kaito tried to reach it, hoping that he could somehow make the device stop and save it for later use. He was, unfortunately, spotted by Cyberdramon, who had just retrieved his lance from LadyDeevimon after kicking her aside so that she flew towards the opening wall of the room and got out of sight. And then, just as Kaito get to the front of the Gate, Cyberdramon struck, waving his hands like he was scratching nothing but thin air. A shockwave came, and hit Kaito right in his chest as if Cyberdramon had just hit him with telekinesis.

With only a face of shock and pain, Kaito fell backwards, dropping into the Gate.

"No!" Blue shouted, accelerating towards the Gate to reach his partner. Green, too, being near, Degenerated and flew through the Gate as a Coredramon.

And then the Gate closed, leaving the tiny device on the ground with the three of them gone.


	24. What's next

-What's next-

It didn't take long before the noticed that the three of them were gone. Kaito, Blue and Green, both passed through the Gate and was now nowhere to be seen. It happened so suddenly that the fight seemed to have stopped for a moment before they could even recall that they were actually in a real combat, fighting real enemies.

Cyberdramon, of course, didn't stop. After a moment or two, when the Destined could return their focus onto the battle, Cyberdramon had already regained his weapon, charging with it facing the Digimon. BanchoLeomon stood in his way, grabbing his lance as he rushed. Both held the weapon tight, and it became clear that it had turned into a fight of brute strength, so BanchoLeomon had the upper hand on the battle. With a smooth motion, he turned himself around ferociously and, letting go of the lance that Cyberdramon was still holding, threw the cyborg away, sending him flying straight at a wall.

"We need to reorganize." He uttered, getting back to the humans' side. There had been too much expected that it appeared even Cyberdramon had gotten a bit disoriented. Sizing the time during which Cyberdramon was too busy standing up, the Destined gathered in a corner with just a little more protection provided by their distance with Cyberdramon and a few extra wooden boxes. No body really knew what the boxes had to do with a place filled with molten metal somewhere, but they were just glad that it provided shelter.

"What do we do now?" Kynan muttered, sneaking a peek over a box, only to lower his head almost immediately as a blast of energy jetted past him, barely missing by an inch or so. "We don't have much time!"

"I say we get to that device and escape with it." Chirinmon proposed. "That seems to be the only way."

"We don't even know how to use it!" Rikuto protested quietly. Despite himself, he, too, thought that the device might be their only way out. But to tell the truth, he was kind of afraid of what it might do. The Gate that had opened just now had sucked in both his brother and Digimon partners to who-knew-where. What if it sent them to someplace worse than it already was?

"Like we have a choice here!" Elsa grumbled. "Act now, discuss later!" With that said, she recklessly left the group in swift and soft steps, sneaking towards the device while LadyDevimon, being her partner, drew attention from Cyberdramon and Mephistomon away from her. The others joined her, keeping their enemy busy while Elsa retrieved the device and was sprinting towards the group.

They didn't hold the line for long. With most Digimon injured, the most they could do was to hold off the two, either by constantly dodging their blasts or halting their advance by physical force, and none was as easy as they seemed. More and more fatigue built up in the Digimon, and in no time, them outnumbering Cyberdramon was no longer an advantage. Cyberdramon, being annoyed at their resistance, swung his lance hard and hit Chirinmon and LadyDevimon simultaneously, effectively getting Chirinmon to Degenerate while LadyDevimon was severely wounded that she could barely stand, not to mention hovering.

"Got it!" Elsa shouted, and all the Digimon converged, retreating from the fight. She instantly get the device to working, but it was more than complicated. The device, having been hit, looked worse than it already was. The edges of it had darkened, ruining its streamline shape. There didn't seem to be any buttons on it, so using it without an instruction manual was kind of impossible. Still, it was not the question of rather they could use it or not. They needed it.

"Maybe we hit it with another blast and see what happens?" Ren suggested.

"We can't afford that." Replied Katashi, who took the device the second he finished talking and started examining it. It was a technology beyond his understanding, and so getting used to it in a matter of seconds seemed impossible. He wouldn't even have known what it did had he not been provided with its information.

"Hurry!" someone yelled.

"I'm trying!" he shouted.

And then, another blast came, hitting the boxes and creating a shock wave so powerful that it knocked Katashi, who was kneeling, off balance. Losing grip on the device, Katashi's eyes followed its fall as it hit the ground and flashed once again.

* * *

When he opened his eyes, all he could see was a blend of colors, unclear like half-dissolved syrup in a cup of tea. Nothing could be made out of, not even the faintest outlines on any object that would indicate anything. It was very quiet as well, and Kaito felt himself lying on the ground. His eyelids were now threatening to close again as his vision became more and more unclear until there was total darkness as well.

When he did wake up again, he felt much better, with clearer vision, which told him that he was in some kind of wooden house, with a ceiling design so old that he thought he would only see it in textbooks. He tried to turn around and get a good look of anything other than the ceiling, but his strength wouldn't allow that. Of course, he could not get himself to get up and sit as well.

 _Where am I?_ he thought, struggling to recall everything that had happened before he lost conscious. _We were fighting Cyberdrmaon, and then he hit me and, somehow, everything changed in a matter of seconds. I was no longer in the battle field but..._ he was trying to make sense of what he knew. _I remember I was falling from somewhere high, and someone came after me...Green! He was there when I fell, and Blue as well..._

He could barely get his head to move down. He felt something strange, cool. He then discovered that his shirt was gone, replaced with straps of bandages that almost covered the entirety of his chest, with purplish red marks on the otherwise perfectly white cloth.

 _Yeah, Cyberdramon slashed me._

What he couldn't remember was how he had gotten there. He recalled reaching for the teleporting device. He had gone through a Gate. And now, he was lying peacefully inside a house, with his wounds treated? _Something must have happened after I lost consciousness._ Tried as he might, he could not recall a single event following his fall. He couldn't even know why he was still alive after having fallen from the sky.

 _Green, or Blue, one of them must have caught me._ He thought. _That's right, I just have to ask them._ He had regained enough strength to temporarily move his head around. No sign of them. He scanned the entire environment again. Still no sign of them.

He was quickly tired, and his eyes were once again forcing him into a sleep. He resisted, but to no avail. _I can't fall asleep now, not before I know what's happening._

And then, he heard the door open. Someone stepped in with loud footsteps. That's probably one advantage of having wooden floor: the footsteps were always audible on wooden floor.

"Oh, you've wakened!" said a light, yet beautiful voice. It belonged to a girl, no doubt, but he had never heard of that accent before. "How're you feeling?"

"Sleepy." That's the first word he spoke after his awakening. He forced himself up a little, bending his upper torso forwards so as to see whomever that voice belonged to. Before he could see anything, however, his chest burnt like hell, as if someone was stomping on his chest and keep twisting it. In pain he cried out.

"You mustn't get up yet!" The girl's voice said. Kaito quickly dropped back and returned to staring at the ceiling.

A moment later, he could see more than just the wooden ceiling. The girl's face was now the only thing he could see. She looked kind of pretty, with deep blue eyes and short, layered white hair, some of it covering half of her eye. He then felt the girl touching the bandages on his chest, and the pain came again, though it didn't hurt as much as the last time.

"Where am I?" He asked weakly, barely keeping eye contact with the girl. "And what happened?"

"I saw you out there." The girl replied. "When I was collecting food. It was almost unbelievable, that when I saw you, you just came out of nowhere from the sky and started falling. There were two shapes that ran after you, though I couldn't make out what they were."

It didn't sound all that bad to Kaito. At least, his memories were correct. He really did pass through a Gate and ended up somewhere high in the sky. Blue and Green did follow him, and probably saved him as well. "You said you found me out there?"

The girl nodded.

"Out where?"

"This village, of course." The girl said. Though she sounded soft, she wasn't quite cheerful.

"What village?" Kaito asked. He needed his location, or the others might never find him again. He didn't want to stay trapped here for the rest of his life, though he had decided the moment he awoke that he would leave as soon as he could walk. "And when you found me, were there two Digimon with me?"

"There were." The girl answered. "And they seemed quite hostile when I first arrived. You had no idea what you were like back then. Your shirt was stained with blood with some cutting marks. Someone slashed you?"

"I think so." Said Kaito as he tried to get up again, only to be gently pushed back to lying. "Where are they? I need to see them. They're my friends." He said between breaths.

"They were outside the house, probably playing or helping out." The girl said. "They seemed to get along with grandpa pretty well."

"I have to see them." Kaito insisted, but couldn't do a thing about his situation. "When can I go?"

"When your wound stops bleeding again." said the girl. She then began to unwrap the bandages and placed them aside, took some herbs out form somewhere behind her, and started mixing them with one another in a motor until there was a paste of greenish goo. She then applied the goo onto Kaito's wound, and instantly he screamed again. "It might hurt a little, but it's for your good." She said softly.

Kaito stopped screaming about half a minute since then, but kept on gasping for air. In hopes of getting his mind on something else and distract himself from the pain, he asked. "So, where am I, really? I mean, which part in the world am I in?"

The girl paused a little, thinking. Then, uncertainly, she said, 'I don't really know." She applied more of the medicine on Kaito as she spoke. "But I think we're quite isolated from the rest of the world. I've never really traveled far enough that I couldn't go home in a month. Plus, there're the mountains surrounding us. It's kinda hard to tell where we are, actually."

 _Surrounded by mountains?_ A notion popped up in Kaito's mind. "Are we in the Human world or the Digital World?"

"Digital World?" the girl sounded surprised. "They say it's gone for decades!"

 _So we're in the Human World, in a village isolated from the rest of the word, surrounded by huge mountains..._ The information inside him was now starting to gather and make out a piece of picture. The feeling of having the question solved was so great that he could no longer feel the pain on his chest. _We're here, where Kynan talked about. That's the only explanation._

"Speaking of that," the girl mumbled as she took some new bandages and started wrapping them around the wound, which was now covered with the medicine. Scar tissues had already formed around the wound, so it was only a matter of time until he could fully recover. "I haven't even asked for your name."

"Kaito," he said. "Or you can just call me Kai."

The girl smiled. "Irene." she said. "Nice to meet you."

* * *

"Everyone here?" Katashi mumbled as he started to search for the others. So far as he could recall, he had been transferred to an unknown location by the teleporting device, and ended up in some kind of a forest now. It might be a mountain, considering the steepness of the ground. The sky was dark, and he was exhausted, so he just shouted again and again, hoping someone would find him, his voice decreasing in volume.

"We're fine here!" Elsa's voice was always the most noticeable. "Kynan and twin boy, too." They emerged from a dark bush and shouted again. "Where are you supposed to be?"

"Here!" Katashi shouted, and they followed the voice, gathering.

"Anyone else?"

From behind them, BanchoLeomon appeared, with Ren being carried by his arms. "She's just unconscious." he said, reassuring the others. LadyDevimon and Valkyrimon came out as well. And soon, Chirinmon joined them.

"So, let's do a headcount here." Katashi muttered. He and his partner was there, so was Elsa and hers, and Ren and Kynan as well. Rikuto was there, too. So that left them only three missing -Kaito, Blue and Green.

"Where are we?" BanchoLeomon asked. "We got completely astray."

Katashi quickly reached for his Digivice and checked the map. It wasn't functioning as it should be, with cloudy images and blurred outlines of shapes. Still, the rough shape of the map could be made out. And then he recognized something terrible. That map was vastly different than the one in the Digital World. It could only mean two things: Either they had got completely lost in an unknown corner in the Digital World, or they had traveled back to the Human World, and were still in an unknown corner.

"We're officially lost by now." He sighed. That wouldn't do anything particularly helpful, but saying that made him feel just a little more relaxed.

"So, what do we do now?" Ren uttered, getting close to Katashi as she took something out of her pocket. It was the teeleportation device, and it was in a worse shape than it had been the last time they had seen it. Still, seeing it gave a slight ray of hope.

"I suppose we can't use that now." Said Kynan, having run off for a while and scouted around. "We don't even know which world we're in." He gestured to Katashi and Katashi gave him his DIgivice, which was still showing the blurred map of their unknown location. Kynan held it in his open palm and examined it carefully, his eyes almost touching the screen.

After a few minutes or so, his face suddenly sunk. The others noticed him, and all walked towards him, almost circulating him. he gave a few sighs, and appeared as though he didn't notice the group around him, or maybe he really didn't. He was too absorbed by the screen.

"What is it?" someone asked.

He didn't answer, and more asked again and again.

"You might not believe this." Said Kynan. "But I recognize the landscape somehow." He showed the Digivice to the others and pointed at a part of the map. The map had now, like in a video game, shifted positions so that he could get access to locations not close to theirs. And where Kynan pointed, there was a huge, darkened line that separated the map into two. "I remember this shape."

"So what, you're home now?" LadyDevimon uttered. Katashi beckoned to her and told her to shut up.

"And see where we are." Kynan sounded both excited and worried. When he pointed at the red spot that indicated their current location, the others could see why.

"So, we're on the mountain where you claimed would require some long term traveling to reach?" Katashi said, amazed.

"Not only are we there." Said Kudamon, overseeing the map on Kynan's shoulder. "We're close to the bottom. We're almost at our destination now."

"So...we actually did what we intended to do?" Elsa uttered. "That's quite a twist, I'd say. It makes me feel like I've wasted the last month doing nothing."

"So, why are we still standing here?" Said Ren, already getting away from the group. "Move on!"

The others followed hesitantly, but soon they discovered that one of them wasn't following. Rikuto had stayed behind.

"You all right?" Ren ran to her and asked nicely. It appeared that Rikuto didn't even notice her appearance until she had spoken. And then, with a blank face, he took a few steps forward and uttered, "I'm fine." But his head was still locked in a downward position.

 _I wonder where Kai had gone?"_ thought him. _Maybe we can find hikm by reaching our destination..._ There was still so much doubt in him that he walked particularly slow, always lagging behind.

Someone patted his shoulder and said, "Thinking about your brother?" It was Katashi, someone whom he didn't really like much.

He shook his head in denial subtly. "I'm sure he's fine." He answered numbly. "Blue and Green are with him. He will be fine."

"Glad you think that way." Katashi said, smiling. "Maybe they didn't show it, but I'm quite sure that all of us here cared about Kaito. But right now, let's get to our destination first. He would go that way in hopes of intersecting us there, I hope."

Rikuto nodded a little, shoved Katashi's hand off, and followed the group silently.

* * *

There really wasn't much to see. Kaito tried to get up, but his wound still threatened to open up again every time he tried even just to lift himself from the floor a bit. There was absolutely no way he could make it out on that day, he was sure. The only thing that meant anything to him was the brilliant sunlight from outside and window -or a hole, since there wasn't any glass -that indicated the passing of time. _How much longer must I stay here?_ Thought him.

As he was trying to pity himself due to his inability to do anything, the door opened. He expected Irene there, probably to check on his wound again. _Hopefully she wouldn't charge me a medical fee._ He tried to entertain himself. But what came through the door was something more. Along with the light-haired girl, someone walked into the room as well. Though he couldn't see them, he could tell by their voices of their mumbling that they were Blue and Green. _Finally!_

"Hi." Said Irene lightly as she came to Kaito's side and smiled. Kaito gave her a tired wink in response. "Think I should give you some time with your friends alone?"

"Yeah."

And so she left the room, gently closing the door such that not even a screech could be heard. As soon as she was gone, the two Dracomon came rushing towards Kaito. Only being able to watch their feet, Kaito relieved a little. At least he wouldn't need to be alone for the coming night; the sun had settled down quite a bit and now the room was sprayed with its orange glow.

"How're you feeling?" It was Green that first asked, walking so fast that he almost tripped and fell. Blue helped him balance and muttered, "Don't get so rush or we might run into Kai!"

Green uttered a light sorry, and then his face was visible to Kaito. Aside from the obvious concern on his face, he looked innocent and sweet, just like the first time he had met them. Green asked the same question again, and Kaito merely nodded a little before saying, "Quite good, but I can't get up yet."

Blue appeared on the other side of his peripheral vision so that all he could see was the cute faces of his partners, of his family. "How're you?"

"Fine." They said simultaneously. "Only that we're worried." And then there was a slight trace of sorrow on Green's face. "I'm worrying about Riku." Kaito could understand. Green spent more time with Rikuto then Blue, so it was normal. Plus, now that the Dracomon had practically become a part of their family, it was only natural that he felt that way. In fact, he was, too, worried about his brother, though he could do nothing but to worry about himself at the moment.

"I'm sure he'll be fine." He said faintly, though even he didn't fully believe in that.

Their chat continued for a moment, and that short period of time felt even shorter as the door was opened again. It had felt like he wasn't injured or separated from the others during the chat, but now he had to come back to reality. He took a peek at the door, now that he could move a bit. Still, he could only see someone's legs walking towards him.

"Hope I wasn't disturbing." Said Irene. As she got closer, Kaito noticed something being held in her hands. Blue and Green cleared a path for the girl to come.

"Medicine again already?" Kaito uttered. He didn't particularly enjoy his wound being burnt intentionally. _Why can't there be some easy ways to treat it?_

Fortunately, Irene shook her head, and kneel near him. "You don't have to worry about the wound for a few days." She answered softly. "I come to bring you this." She placed the object she was holding to the ground, next to Kaito. He could see it now. It was a bowl of something, probably food. That's when he recognized that he hadn't eaten in quite a long time, and the sight of food -though it's just a guess -caused his belly to ramble.

"You sure're hungry, aren't you?" Said Irene lightly as if she could hear his stomach begging for food. "Here, let me help you." She quietly took a spoon and took some of the watery thing -probably soup -out of the bowl and fed Kaito. As embarrassing as it was, he had no choice but to eat like a child. He noticed Blue and Green giggling at some distance, so he glared at them and said, "Don't you dare tell Riku about this!" They both laughed even louder.

* * *

It took them just a few hours to get oriented, and by dusk they had already reached somewhere less dangerous, or some it seemed. Kynan had been helpful navigating the Destined through the woods that covered the area they were staying. Sun set early so there was no way to go on. They all agreed to take rest for the time being.

"If I'm correct, we should be there in weeks." Said Kynan.

"Weeks?" Elsa didn't find that particularly cheerful. "You're saying we can be there for a week at most, I hope."

"If you go fast, that is."

Elsa was not entertained. She turned to someone else with more common sense -Katashi -and tried to open a conversation with him, only that Katashi, too, seemed a bit serious at the moment. _There must be someone I can talk to._ She thought. She was now starting to suspect that she had joined a group full of boring guys. She hated boring guys.

"What about you?" she turned to Ren, who was having nothing to do by the time. _That should at least bring some fun, girl talk._

"About what?" apparently astonished, she replied as she skipped backwards a bit. Elsa sure could walk lightly. "And, can you not sneak up on me the next time you want to talk?"

"Just trying to find someone with a mouth." Uttered Elsa. "The boys are so boring."

"And you don't find me boring?"

"A little, from time to time." Elsa said, frowning, though nobody could really see it. "Can't we just have a little talk and behave like proper girls?"

"I don't think I'd be the best candidate." Ren replied. "People always say I'm too manly and not girly enough."

"And I don't care." Elsa said. "I need to talk to someone before I go crazy."

* * *

It felt like he had just become a Digi-egg and had been reborn. The metal Cyberdramon retrieved had successfully repaired almost all damages that could be found on his armor. As of now, he would have enough strength than he had ever had, or since he had used this body, to truly initiate his plan.

 _This took a little longer than_ _I_ _expected, but that_ _'_ _s fine._ Thought him. He looked to his right, where Mephistomon was resting. He silently counted the number of Digimon killed, or rather, absorbed by his silent companion. _Two, three four, and_ _…_ He didn't need the exact number to know that it hadn't been enough. Maybe he should send Mephistomon to more battle, get him to "eat" more and more Digimon. It was, after all, an essential part in his grand scheme, and the only backup plan, which seemed more and more redundant now that his plan was going so smoothly.

 _Just wait a little longer, and the world would be yours._

* * *

 **Sorry to say it, but I have officially run out of chapters, which means that there won't probably be an update the next week, unless I can finish chapter 25 within the week, which is kind of impossible.**

 **I may also not update for a while, so that I can use that time to restock my chapters. I don't like updating my stories randomly.**


	25. The wonder of being uneventful

-The wonder of being uneventful-

They made progress pretty fast, and by the end of the third day, they had already descended the hillside quite uneventfully. It almost made them wonder why they had been running into troubles previously almost everywhere they went. Still, they couldn't say that they were fast enough. In three day's time, Cyberdramon could have done anything. And then there was Kaito, who had disappeared since then. Though they couldn't be sure, it felt like reaching the destination, which were so close now, was the only way they could reunite with him.

"How come you're still looking like this?" Ren asked Rikuto softly as they sat down on a grass field near a river. The others were either there collecting water, or were using the cold and clear water to refresh themselves, mostly by means of washing faces or just jump into the water even with clothes on. The last few days had been uneventful, but they could not really escape the harsh sunlight. It was only then that they remembered they were supposed to be enjoying the summer holiday, not traveling to save the world, though that was more urgent.

"I'm fine." Rikuto answered, as weakly as he had been for the recent days. "I was just wondering about something."

"About what?"

"Things…I just keep thinking about things lately, anything can do."

"And they trouble you?"

"I…I just don't get the feeling that everything's gonna be fine, okay?" he said, irritated, though he didn't mean to offend anyone in particular. "I am afraid, as you would say," He said that before she had the chance, since that was the only time he would think that Ren's comment on him would be accurate.

Ren didn't say anything. Though she would like to lighten up the atmosphere, sometimes things were just too serious that she had to admit she could do nothing but sigh. This was one of those times where saying things couldn't change anything. She sat silently by his side, leaning against him softly. Sometimes she just wanted to rest a bit without really thinking much. Her energetic side was not quite dominant over her actions now. Not having rested for over a week, somewhere deep inside her had, too, started to grow the emotion known as uncertainty. It seemed plainly hard to clang on to any hope for the time being.

"Good news!" said Katashi, running towards the party. They had finished gathering water already, and all of them were back together for the moment except for Kynan, who insisted that he had to scout around to look for any leads that might lead them forward.

"Say it already." Said Elsa. She had lost the mood to even say some nonsense or jokes.

"I saw something down there when I got near a cliff." Said the brown-haired boy. "It seemed like a settlement of some sorts…I suppose that's where we should head to. That might be our destination, and since I, who doesn't really have the nest eyesight, could see it, it must not be that far away."

"You sound like you just got a lottery prize." Said Ren. "But that's really some good news, I suppose."

"So we should be getting close to Kai?" Rikuto uttered. He could only hope that Kaito would, rationally and hopefully, use that village they sought as a rendezvous for them. That was the only way they could track each other, anyway.

"-I'd say we have less than a week's time to go" Katashi sounded like his old self now, cheerful and optimistic instead of being cautious and worried all the time. Rikuto remembered that he called this his "friendly neighborhood" face, which he really didn't like, but a little optimism there would help ease his tension, so he might as well just let him be that way.

"So, when do we start going again?" LadyDevimon uttered. She had done nothing in particular so far, so she wasn't exactly in the mood of waiting any longer. She knew she could only be of use in battles, which was rare since they had returned to the Human World. Like Elsa, she found all her teammates boring beyond imagination, and thus, she could care less if anything were to happen. She just wanted to get the job finish as soon as possible for now.

"We'll move until dusk today, I suppose." Said Kynan, Exactly what she wanted to hear. "And hopefully we'll reach there in less than a week." He said with a grin. "Hopefully, that is."

"Better then getting stuck here with no progress at all." Interrupted Liollmon. He had stayed in Rookie form for quite some time after the last battle. "So I guess we move on now?"

They came to an agreement, and went on.

x-x-x

Yuzuki was growing more and more worried for Kaoru. Though he had been careful hiding his problems, Yuzuki couldn't pretend she didn't notice anything about him. The most noticeable change was that his headaches had become more and more frequent, and though he didn't show much about it, she could tell that he was only acting tough while bearing the pain on his own. She also noticed something: that Kaoru had become more and more socially withdrawn, not because he was a little anti-social. She had always felt like Kaoru was avoiding contact with others as hard as he could, and he was even a little evasive towards her as well.

 _Haven_ _'_ _t we agreed that we won_ _'_ _t hide anything from one another?_ She sighed as she walked past the door of his room at night. He would have been asleep theoretically, but she had the feeling that he was insomniac. She, however, dared not intervene; for fear that it would worsen their relationship.

This night, however, she didn't have to pretend she didn't know anything. When she was pacing around the corridors thinking something serious at midnight, she found herself accompanied as she reached the living. There was a faint glow of light, and sounds that felt like low whispers. When she reached the room she found Kaoru sitting in front of the TY, with his eyes half-closed, and watching news.

"Did I disturb you?" he said softly as he noticed her presence.

She shook her head slightly, and approached him. "What're you doing this late at night?"

"I…" he started, but didn't want to finish the conversation. It would only become an endless debate, he knew.

"You couldn't sleep either?" Yuzuki said gently, hoping he wouldn't find her intrusive. He nodded.

"What is it that bothers you?" she said, lower than a whisper so that she wouldn't wake her parents. "For me, that's you." She spoke first. "You know I've been worried about you, right? I didn't notice it at first, but then it became more and more clear. I started having dreams about you."

"And what did I do in that dream?"

"You did exactly what you're doing now." She said, her voice muffed a little as though she had just swallowed hard. "You looked normal, but then you'd start getting away from me and no matter what I said or how I chased, you became out of reach."

"Out of reach?"

"It's like, how do I put it? I kept seeing you fade away like the time you…died."

Kaoru said nothing. In the dim light, Yuzuki couldn't really make out what his face was like. It must have stunned him, she thought, that she revealed something so personal to him. She imagined him processing the information as he sat idly by, not having anything to say. She knew he didn't talk much, but this was one of the few times that she actually hoped he wouldn't say anything. A quick response means no thinking, and she didn't like that at all.

"I'm…sorry…" he said, though he had no intention on apologizing. That's the only line he could think of to make others, including his love interest, feel better. That, however, didn't work on Yuzuki.

"Hadn't I told you not to blame yourself for everything?"

"You did, but I really have the responsibility here, since it was me you dreamt of."

"Enough with that." Said Yuzuki. There was no way the conversation could continue if she kept arguing on this topic. "What about you? Why didn't you sleep?"

"I can't really say it." Replied Kaoru. "I don't know exactly why, but every time I closed my eyes, I felt afraid. A lot of things have happened lately, and I can't be sure if there's still something wrong with me. I mean, I…" he stopped there, incapable of thinking of a complete sentence to express his feelings. "I just felt lonely and, I couldn't help but remember the time when I was in the Digital World alone. I don't want to remember that, but it just happens in my dreams."

"So you have nightmares as well?"

"You can say that."

"What about we sleep together?" Yuzuki said quietly, as though she was ashamed by the idea, despite the fact that she wanted it. What if Kaoru said no?

Fortunately, he nodded. "I still remember that time in the Fortress." He said. "You're right. I feel safer with you."

"So that's it." Yuzuki whispered. She had not noticed that she had been talking increasingly loud and that she might have awakened her parents. She grabbed Kaoru by his arm swiftly and together they went towards her room as Kaoru turned off the TV remotely.

x-x-x

"How long till we get there?" Elsa said for perhaps the third time in that day. Having grown used to her constant complains, nobody really answered her, and she just shut up after a few more rounds, feeling dull.

Half a day had passed as they settled in a corner surrounded by trees. The woods there looked slightly different from those in the Digital World, being greener and looking a bit softer, while those in the Digital World looked a bit too geometric. The sunlight wasn't blocked by the trees there. Instead, gentle glows were on the soft surface, making the entire area mellow with irregularly shaped spots of sunlight.

"'Bout time we take a rest." Suggested Ren, and no one opposed.

"Wonder if anything would happen?" Liollmon told Katashi, leaning against a tree and half lying. "It had been uneventful so far."

"And I like it best if it continues." Replied Katashi.

"I like it, too. But to e honest, it's kind of boring, the way things are going right now."

"I prefer boredom over dangers."

"I wonder if he's safe, like us, now?"

"Who're you talking about?"

"Kaito." Liollmon replied. "I never really liked him –them –since the time we first met. But now, seeing him gone, it worries me a little."

"He'll be fine." Katashi said. "Remember, Blue and Green are with him, right?"

Rikuto interfered when he heard their names. "What're you talking about?" he asked, approaching them. it was only then that it occurred to him that it was the first time he had started a conversation with Katashi. Katashi explained briefly, and then tried to switch the topic to something else, only there were enough topics to be discussed.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine." Said Katashi.

"I know." Said Rikuto in return. His voice, however, sounded uncertain. "I just don't know what to do right now."

"Just get going, I think." Said Liollmon.

"I know we're doing that." Said Rikuto.

"Would it kill you to stop acting tough for just a second?" retorted Liollmon. A little argument occurred, including Rikuto saying that he wasn't acting tough and Liollmon constantly complaining that he should mind his attitude when speaking to someone, which was quickly retorted by Rikuto, who pointed out that it should be Liollmon who should sound more humble. The argument went on, and there was no result, but Katashi didn't stop it. It was a relief that he saw Rikuto being like his usual self again, though it was at the expense of his partner. A little argument wouldn't kill him, he thought.

x-x-x

 _Must be boring to be with me right now._ Thought Kaito as he lay on the ground, scanning his surroundings. No sigh of either Blue or Green. They'd probably gotten out of the house to play on their own, or been helping Irene out. That left him all alone in the room. It had only been days, but he already felt better. The wound couldn't keep him immobilized for that long. With that thought he tried to get up, only to lie down in pain again. he had only moved his right arm a bit, but already his chest was burning, as if the wound had just been branded on him and that he had not taken any form of medicine at all.

 _Let_ _'_ _s try it the other way._ He thought, placing his left palm on the ground and trying to lift himself up without moving most of his right side. That would ease the pain, he presumed, since the slash wound was on his right chest. Inch by inch, he supported his entire weight with only his left hand, which was barely capable of getting him to move up a little. He regretted now that he had not really taken PE lessons seriously. It would have been much easier if he had done a bit push-up excises. Still, he managed to get up, ignoring the slight pain on his chest that warned him not to. As soon as he was standing on his feet, he leaned on a wall for support while his hand was covering his wound, though it didn't make the pain any less agonizing.

The door opened when her voice came. "You can't get up yet!" it was Irene. Who could it have been? With a basket holding on her hands she quickly approached Kaito and helped guide him to a chair, where he sat down and said nothing. He didn't really know her, but he felt he betrayed her a bit by not listening to her instructions and ignoring her concern. After all, she had been taking care of him lately, and he was recovering only thanks to her.

"I…I just think I shouldn't be lying there all day without doing anything." He uttered. "I can't stand doing nothing while relying on others to take care of me."

"You would've done me a great favor if you had just stood down and let your wound heal." She replied. "That's the easiest way to heal a wound like that."

"Sorry, I didn't know that." Kaito said, looking down to the floor, ignoring eye contact. "I thought it would be better if I got up."

"That's,,,normal, to someone who knows nothing about medication," said the white-haired girl. "But I know better that it is always the most obedient patients that healed the quickest."

"I'm sorry."

"You say that a little too often." Said Irene as she lifted her basket and took out something wrapped in a thin sheet of paper. She handed it to Kaito and said, "Here, I brought you food,"

"Thanks." Said Kaito, carefully opening the wrap to see a piece of sandwich. It reminded him that he hadn't eaten a lot lately. Despite his hunger, he only took it bit by bit; he didn't want to give a bad impression to Irene by performing no table manners at all.

"How's it?"

Kaito wanted to answer, but his mouth was busy chewing the food inside and he could only make a muffed voice. A few seconds passed before he replied, "It's good."

"I'm glad you like it." Said Irene, a gentle smile growing on her face. "They went through a lot to make you this."

"They?"

"Your friends." Said the girl. "The twin Digimon?"

"You mean Blue and Green?" uttered Kaito, astonished. He didn't expect that. For all he knew, he had only thought that he was the one to feed them, not the other way around. He had also never imagined that they had been working hard for him. A little trace of guilt was there in his heart as he realized that he misjudged his friend the entire time, having thought that they had been bored to stay with him.

"They had quite the argument, you know?" Irene's voice brought him back to reality. "Luckily the blue one had the upper hand and everything went according to his way. Otherwise the sandwich would be a totally different story. It seemed that he knows you taste better than the green one."

"Blue?" uttered Kaito. "Yeah, we were a little closer than me and Green; not to say that I hate one of them. I love them both."

"Blue, Green, are those their names?" asked Irene. When Kaito nodded, she added. "That's quire a sloppy way to name them."

"Whatever. That's easier for us." he replied, taking another bite of the sandwich.

"You sure are hungry, aren't you?" she said, smiling again.

He nodded before taking the last remaining part of the sandwich. He then tried to get up again, but was forced to be seated by Irene, who insisted that he shouldn't move much for the time being. "I'm worry about my friends." He argued. "I can't just sit here and wait; I have to find them."

"They're right downstairs."

"I'm not talking about Blue and Green." He shook his head. "There were others."

"And sure they're trying to find you, too." Said Irene. Kaito could do nothing but sigh. She continued. "Why were you here in the first place? I have been so focused on you injury that I never really asked, but there has not been anyone from outside to enter our village since…well, before I was born."

"It's a long story." Kaito sighed again.

"And I have time to listen." Said Irene. "Plus, I love stories."

x-x-x

 _He was confused at first, but soon he managed to make some sense out of his whereabouts. There was no way he could have forgotten that. It was the place where they had battled Millenniummon. It was the place where he had died._

 _Everything seemed to be as they had been during the battle. The ground covered in shards of glasses, freshly broken by limitless Chaosdramon X. There were the rubbles from the ceiling that piled up on the ground as well, making the chamber look more like a ruin and less a_ _research_ _base._

 _But something was wrong. He should never have seen things in this angle before. It felt like he was hovering midair, except that he was perfectly still, and looking down on the battlefield. He saw the Digimon that fought in the battle, but they all seemed so small that he could easily unsee them by covering his eyes with his palm. He couldn_ _'_ _t move much,_ _though_ _. And then, in all a sudden, the Digimon started throwing waves after waves of attack, towards him, as if they were aiming at him. He could barely see what happened next due to all the blasts and the falling ceiling. When things became visible again, he saw someone standing right in the center of the battlefield, and that wasn_ _'_ _t just anybody. That was Yuzuki, and she seemed_ _frozen_ _at_ _the_ _moment. A chunk of the ceiling fell, and he saw_ _…_ _himself. The Kaoru he saw rushed forward and pushed Yuzuki aside from a sharp piece of rubble that was falling on her. He wasn_ _'_ _t so lucky and couldn_ _'_ _t escape the shard; it went right through his torso, and he was lying on the ground bleeding and_ _…_

Kaoru woke up with a scream after that. He had just seen himself die again. he found himself sweating heavily, like when he had nightmares, except this wasn't really a scary one. He looked to his side, and saw Yuzuki still lying in a silent sleep. _Lucky_ _I_ _didn_ _'_ _t wake her up_. He thought. Them sleeping together was meant to be a way to make one another feel safer, but he had failed that. He quickly changed his mood, as if the nightmare that he had just seen was nothing as he lay down on the bed again and turned his head to a side so he couldn't see Yuzuki's face. Some things were best kept personal, and he didn't want anyone to worry about him anymore.


	26. Separated lives

-Separated lives-

Two more days had passed uneventfully. Though that was a relief, it made their journey seem less and less successful. Some even thought that they had deviated off course, since no danger awaited them at all. The lack of obstacles was something they didn't want, ironically. It made their journey look like some kind of hiking trip, like it didn't matter anymore.

"I wonder how long will it take?" uttered Ren as the group decided to take a break. They had traveled far enough that there weren't trees and streams anymore. The sun was blazing as always, but it didn't really do much to the group. At least no one showed any sign of being annoyed by the sunlight.

"As soon as we reached there, which would be in about two days." Valkyrimon answered her. It had appeared that, without the need to fight, her partner had not done anything meaningful for quite some time. But she didn't mind that. Valkyrimon was, at least to her, more a friend than a bodyguard, and she had been helpful when needed.

Ren always found Valkyrimon quite reserved and quiet when she's not in battle, so she said, "What'd you want to do after we've completed the quest?"

Her partner shook her head slightly. ""I haven't thought of that yet."

"Well, you can start thinking about it now." Ren smiled. "Maybe we'll get a chance to get back to that Institute as well. Though you'll probably be too strong to go."

Valkyrimon said nothing but remained by her side.

Bored, Ren turned her head to see her other side, see if there's anyone she could talk to. There really wasn't much choice for her, though. She could chat with Katashi, but for some reason she felt a distance between them; Elsa was fine, except that she didn't really enjoy her sarcasm; Kynan, on the other hand, looked a bit too intimidating for her. _That leaves us with Riku_. She thought. For the first time, she realized that, despite having been in the team for quite some time now, the only one she could open up to was still the mildly irritating boy she had met long ago.

Therefore she approached him, only to see that he was leaning against a boulder, eyes looking down, deep in thought. It wasn't hard to understand why that happened: he'd lost his family so suddenly. _Yes, family._ She thought. _I haven_ _'_ _t even noticed that the Digimon weren_ _'_ _t only our friends, but are as close to us as a family._

Thus she tried to cheer him up a little, though she had tried and failed for a few times. But it was him that spoke first. "Trying to say we're close to the end again?" He sounded irritated, though he didn't mean it.

"As you guessed." She answered. "But really, I don't like seeing you with that face. It's almost like you had a grudge with the entire world. I have almost forgotten how to make you smile again. Can't you just be your usual self and try to say that I'm annoying?"

"So you do realize that you're annoying." He replied.

"Am I?"

"Of course you are!" he said, not noticing that he giggled a little. Her face sank, and immediately he knew he had offended her somehow, though she should not take it easily, since it was all her idea from the beginning. Still, having a sense of responsibility, he added. "Not all the time, though."

* * *

Cyberdramon had summoned Mephistomon again as he ventured to the venue he had once dreaded. With his armor now complete, there wasn't a single location that the psychotic Digimon wouldn't dare visit. His armor was, after all, made by one of the toughest substances in the Digital World.

Mephistomon hovered around him like a ghost, his movements spiritless and horrifyingly minimal. He never really said a word in the presence of Cyberdramon, and he was doing the same now.

"Once appoint a time, there was a place in the Digital World that stored the most powerful Digimon, or should I say, the most nutritious meal."

Mephistomon, floating behind him, turned into a glowing purple cyclone, lightning surrounding its most basic shape. And then, a blinding light flashed from it. at the same time, large amount of shockwaves were produced that everything around it got blown away literally, except for Cyberdramon, that was.

He wasn't floating anymore. As Gulfmon, he now walked slowly with his four legs. Due to his sheer size, one step of his could easily replace a few of that of Cyberdramon.

Cyberdramon had not forgotten the original purpose of creating an assistant, or puppet, for his own use. It just happened that there hadn't been a place where Mephistomon could carry out his true purpose.

 _But there is now._

Cyberdramon did a gesture, and instantly Gulfmon ceased his relaxed pace, charging right to one of the few incomplete walls that provided slight protection for the black market. Just his sheer force was enough to turn the already fragile structure into complete nothingness, leaving only dust on the ground as Gulfmon made a long, echoing howl.

The Digimon there, of course, weren't the nice ones. If there was someone to challenge them to battle, they would gladly accept it, and more than often one of the two fighting parties ended up dead. That was, when their own benefits were inhibited.

Right now, there was no reason to fight since Gulfmon hadn't done anything yet. A few smart ones noticed that a war were about to occur and ran away while the still could. The gigantic Gulfmon hadn't blocked every way in and out yet.

The others sent glares to the ones who fled, as if announcing publicly that they were cowards. Most wanted to demonstrate their powers, and therefore, no reason was required to start a fight between them and Gulfmon.

A WereGarurumon was one of those. He leaped forward and kicked the ground hard, jetting himself into the air and readying a punch right in the face of Gulfmon. Gulfmon, though, stopped him with just a swing of his hand, shoving the Ultimate back to the ground before advancing and stomping him with his over-sized foot, killing the WereGarurumon in one hit as data streams started to emerge and flow towards Gulfmon. A sign of victory.

None of the others were scared, though. _He_ _'_ _s just too weak to take a hit._ Most of them thought. But fighting them one by one was way too inefficient, and Gulfmon didn't intend to work that way. Before any other fools challenged him, he advanced, snarled, and starting crumbling buildings with just his physical form. A few that hadn't been alert enough got their lives taken away as a result.

There were various reasons, but none of them mattered as the remaining Digimon formed a temporary alliance and started cornering Gulfmon, who had clearly initiated a war. A few Ultimates rushed ahead, and were unfortunately destroyed rapidly. The others, having seen what the intruder could do, took careful steps back. Gulfmon advanced.

Watching from far away, all that Cyberdramon could observe was an ever-growing scream and tackles of weapons filling the air like he was inside a factory's production line. There wasn't much to see, though. The black market had got some really tall walls and Cyberdramon had no intension of getting to a better position. As far as he concerned, he just needed to know who would emerge as the victor, which he had already known.

* * *

"Can I get my shirt back?" Kaito uttered as he walked downstairs, having recovered from the injury that had kept him immobilized. All that time he had done nothing other than lying on the ground. His wound was on his chest, and Irene needed to constantly apply medicine for him, so he really had been half-naked for quite some time. Once he felt better, therefore, he started looking for it.

"You can't get up yet!" Irene's voice came from below. She quickly appeared at the stairs and gently pushed Kaito back into the room. "Your wound is…"

"Almost completely healed." The white-haired boy replied. "I don't feel the pain anymore."

"Well, in that case, I guess your perceptions would be better than mine." The girl uttered in a whisper. "Anyway, I put your clothes in a drawer inside the room."

"I'll go find it."

Irene followed him in. He looked over the drawers for a few seconds and got his clothes back. Dressing rapidly, he had forgotten how the wound had hurt him. He still felt a bit of pain, though. When he finished he turned to Irene and said, "Now, how do I look?"

"Quite good." She answered. "Though it seems to me a bit new."

Kaito lowered his head and examined himself. He found a deep cut on both his sweater and t-shirt, the marks left by Cyberdramon's slash. He sighed silently. He really liked his outfit. Still, he got over it fairly fast. Now that he had recovered, there's only one thing to do: to wait for the others.

After that, he rushed off the stairs and got out of the house. He had never really seen the village before, since he had always been lying on the ground. He didn't even know a single bit about the house that he had been living in. It wasn't particularly different than the one he had imagined, though, except that it was wooden instead of concrete.

The look outside the house was much better. He had never really bothered to think what live would be like outside his country, since he didn't know there were still others in the word. Now that he had seen it with his own eyes, he could admit that this village looked much nicer than the district he lived in. It looked like one of those he had seen in storybooks back when he had been really small. The village was small, but well organized. There were wooden house along a road; all arranged in order yet each one was different than the others. There were no skyrocketing buildings like the kind he had grown used to seeing; instead there were a wonderful view of the sky and a really open space.

"You look surprised." Said Irene from behind.

"I am." Kaito replied numbly. "I didn't know such places still exist. At least I was told that my home was the only place with humans."

"And how does that matter, exactly?" Said Irene, frowning. "It's still a lively place to live. And I guess your home is really comfortable and different, seeing how you reacted."

"Yeah, I miss it. But I like it here, too." He uttered, turning around to look for Blue and Green, who should be around the house helping out, or at least that's how he wanted them to be. _But I can never stay here forever, however I like it._ He added silently.

He found the Dracomon in the backyard of the house. They seemed surprised seeing him walk again, but they got over that rather quickly. It was simply a news that he had recovered fully.

"They say you're still upstairs." Said Blue. "And I thought you wouldn't go out for a few more days."

"Can't help with that." Said Kaito. "I needed to get some fresh air. Lying on a floor for days wasn't enjoyable."

"Except that you had a beautiful girl feed you." Green uttered softly. The Digimon giggled, and Kaito felt his face warming up. He knew he must be blushing, but couldn't do anything about it.

"Can't we just say that it's good seeing me again?" he grumbled, which only made the two laugh even more.

Irene was with him all the time, so she had heard what the Dracomon had said as well. And though didn't quite follow what they're doing, she could tell that Kaito was embarrassed when it came to things that involved her. She stepped closer to Kaito and said nothing, only being by his side. She then frowned lightly at the Dracomon, signaling that they shouldn't make fun of their friend. The Dracomon laughed a little more, and then grew silent. The humans laughed as well.

And then, out of nowhere, a bang came, deafening.

* * *

Cyberdramon walked over the entirely empty black market with Gulfmon standing right in the middle of it. There was no sign of life other than the two of the, and, crossing his hands and pacing slowly, he examined the degree of destruction that had occurred just a few moments before. Searching through crumbled walls and piles of rubbles, he made sure that there was no survivor at all, which was perfect, at least to him.

"So, all that glory ended in a single afternoon." He mumbled. He had been doing that a lot lately. "Or should I say that I should have done it all by myself instead of sending those kids there? It seems now that was quite a redundant move." He looked down, to the rubbles and the ashes. So far, he hadn't even needed to be present when Gulfmon did all his work. _An efficient servant, he is._ He looked back to the motionless Gulfmon. _Too bad we can_ _'_ _t keep this partnership forever._

* * *

Their uneventful days had come to a stop. Not long before, they had only been traveling without much trouble, but a few days later they had already found themselves in troubles. Though there were fewer Digimon in the Human World than in the Digital World, they were quite similar in many ways, especially in their tendency to attack whoever happened to come across their sight.

"Spinning Needle!" an Airdramon flew across the Destined and flapped its wings, generating a blade of vacuum that jetted straight towards the Destined.

"This is more annoying than difficult." LayDevimon leaped across and waved her hand; the invisible blade of vacuum was easily directed off course and cut a short shrub near the Destined instead of its intended target.

Another Airdramon came straight ahead of the humans, flapping its wings with such strength that the Destined needed something for anchorage before getting blown away.

"Darkness wave!" LadyDevimon delivered another blow and knocked the two Airdramon out at the same time. Both of them fell to the ground, unconscious. Using the little time they had, the Destined fled.

"It's getting more and more annoying lately." Katashi commented. "There's no way they'd just go out and attack whoever they see, right?"

"Thought you'd have gotten used to it/" Kynan replied. "Welcome to my world."

"So that's what you've been doing for a whole year?" asked Liollmon. "Fighting whatever that came in your way?"

"Escaping was much more efficient." Kudamon said. "Keep on fighting and you'll lose some day when you're out of strength."

"So you're saying that we should run away from these kind of fights?" Ren uttered, irritated.

"You have a better idea?" Kynan replied, his voice as steady and calm, if not emotional, as he had always been.

"I mean that we shouldn't just run away from whatever hinders us, right?"

"To people like you, running away is worse than losing a fight, right?" Kudamon said. "But that's not how you deal with things here. Be practical."

"I'm not impractical; I was just saying that…" she felt a hand on her shoulder and found out it was Rikuto as she turned around. The boy didn't say anything, but shook his head a little. She gave up, taking a step back and said nothing.

"Don't tell me even you are on their side." She whispered to Rikuto.

"I didn't mean that." Rikuto answered. "I just don't think that we should fight for some small things here. And…"

"You want to get going on as fast as we can, right?"

"Yeah."

"Don't worry, we'll reach your brother in no time. At least that's what I've been told."

Rikuto turned his head slightly so that his eyes weren't directly looking at Ren's. "So let's get going, shouldn't we?"

* * *

"You don't seem surprised." Kaito said to Irene, who stood beside him. Her eyes indicated that she was looking at something really far away, or she was just lost in thoughts that she didn't know what was happening right now. Kaito spoke for a second time, and it was only by doing that that he could get Irene's attention.

"You know what's going on?" he asked.

"Yeah. We've grown kind of used to it."

"To what?"

"That's something you'll know sooner or later, I suppose." She said so with a bit reluctance that Kaito found it strange. He had always thought that she was the kind that never let anything trouble her. She continued. "The village isn't always safe. Sometimes Digimon from out there might break into our village, and while most of the time they just ended up here by accident, some of them had the intention of robbing the village clean." She looked at Kaito. "Sorry I didn't let you know it sooner."

"And why should I know it?" the boy answered. "It sounds kind of normal to me. My home, too, dreaded that wild Digimon might get into our place and ruin everything, so they put up high walls to defend themselves –ourselves."

"I haven't mentioned the worst part of it." Irene added. "While most of us are like you, who can be friends with Digimon, some of us freaks out whenever the term Digimon is mentioned. Some of them even hated all Digimon because of that little fears they have."

"People on my side had the same habit as well." He turned around to see Blue and Green following them. Then he started to notice, the way that the villagers look at the two. It was as though the two of them were some sort of crazy monsters that the people just want to get as far away from them as they could. But that didn't affect how the two had grown to like the village. It really was a small village, so the total population was no more than thirty people, and since almost half of them were afraid of Digimon, the two had to behave strictly so that they wouldn't get kicked out of the village.

"You two go with me, can you?" uttered Kaito. Having been a bit distracted by how the others saw them, the two responded a little slowly, but they followed Kaito to the boundary of the village at once.

"Wait!" It was Irene. She was quite exhausted by her looks. It was easy to guess that she had been running.

Kaito turned around immediately and said, "You shouldn't be here. Go to somewhere safe!"

"Do I need to remind you that you are the patient, not me." She answered.

"But it's dangerous here."

"Not as dangerous as leaving you alone."

"I'm not alone." He said. Blue and Green nodded. "And now I want you to go somewhere safe."

"But if the Digimo was really trying to raid on our village, and you're not as strong as it…"

"Don't worry, they've got it."

Having no more excuses, Irene took a few steps back, but her eyes were still fixed at those of Kaito, as if wishing him good luck silently until she had to turn her back on him and get back to the village for coverage.

Two Digimon appeared at the far side of the sky. They looked similar to one another, as they appeared to be of the same species. They hovered in a random fashion, as if they were not able to secure a flight path. It almost looked like they were injured.

Kaito took out his Digivice, which he had forgotten for quite some time, and identified the two Digimon as Airdramon. _Champions._ He thought. _Shouldn_ _'_ _t be too hard._ He turned around, gesturing at Blue and Green as they walked forth.

"We'll handle them quick." Said Green. Blue nodded in agreement. And then, without much delay, the two of them emitted a blinding light, and Digivolved into two Coredramon. Just as the light faded, the two of them took flight, charging straight towards the incoming Airdramon. Before they intercepted one another, however, the Airdramon took the initiative and fired towers of flames that looked almost like tornados as they sped up.

"Blue Flare Breath!"

"Green Flare Breath!"

Without hesitation the Coredramon breathed flames of blue and green to counter the attack. A shockwave occurred as the flames collided, sending the Coredramon stumbling back a little, though without losing their balance. The Airdramon, on the other hand, weren't so lucky. It seemed that the theory that they had been injured was true, as they fell from the sky quickly with futile struggling. Soon the two Airdramon could no longer been seen in the sky as they plumped straight towards the ground, not even struggling this time.

"That's pretty easy." Blue commented as they flew back to Kaito's side. They hadn't eve needed Kaito's support to win the battle. This made him feel a little useless, but he was glad that the village wasn't in danger anymore.

When he returned to Irene's house, the girl rushed towards him and asked immediately, "How did things go out there?"

"That's an easy fight." Green replied, a little smirk appearing on his face."

"A fight?"

"Of course." Said Kaito. "What else would that have been?"

Irene looked aside, looking a little sad.

"What is it?"

"Nothing." She said, but her tone told otherwise.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"It's just that," Irene shook her head a little. "We don't usually fight with the wild Digimon here. Most of the time they were just lost and stumbled onto our village. Only few ever intended an attack."

Kaito was speechless. "I…I didn't know that." He looked down, feeling guilty. Recalling the physical state of the two Airdramon, they really could have been just seeking someone's help because of their potential injury. But now, he had registered them as enemy without giving any second thoughts. This made him a little uneasy.

"But you did that just to protect us, right?" said Irene, trying to cheer him up, though even she herself didn't feel that way. "At least we'll know what to do the next time."


	27. Another two days

-Another two days-

Two more days had passed. By now they were nearly at the bottom of the mountain that had caused them days of time. So far, everything seemed alright. There were occasional Digimon attacks that would trouble them a little, but in the end, nothing was really an obstacle.

"Isn't it kind of strange, that we're proceeding this smoothly?" Elsa pointed out. "I was expecting more, like some really scary traps or whatever that Cyberdramon could think of."

"Speaking of which," Katashi interrupted. "We haven't really seen him or anything related to him lately."

"Maybe he's finally come to his senses and decided not to keep track on us."

"That's too good to be true." said Kynan.

"Can't you be optimistic just for once?" the girl demanded.

Kynan merely shook his head a little. "Being optimistic and careless are different."

"Whatever that means." Elsa uttered. "I'd like to keep things this way. After all, I think I'm the only one here that's glad that we haven't run into any sort of trouble yet."

"I don't like thinking that way." Said Liollmon, "Always prepare for the worst."

Elsa didn't say anything to retort, not because she had run out of vocabulary, but because she found this recurring topic too boring. If there's anything she couldn't stand so far, that would be it. And though she acknowledged that their task was a dangerous one, she didn't like treating it so carefully. That's just not her style. She played along with the others, though, since she wasn't the one to lead.

"Speaking of which, I wonder what kind of place that would be," she said bitterly. "I mean, they actually chose a location to seal the virus, so that must be quite a wonder to witness."

"Or maybe there's nothing at all." Kudamon said. "We might all have been fooled, as far as I'm concerned."

"Don't say that." Ren interrupted. "I don't like feeling that everything we've done was for nothing."

"There is the possibility."

"I'd like to think that once we're there, we might get reunited with Kai and the Dracomon."

"Since when did you started calling him that?" Rikuto asked.

"Since...about the same time I started calling you by your nickname."

"That's not a nickname." he uttered lightly. "Just an abbreviation."

"Maybe he is already there waiting for us." Ren continued.

"But we need to care about something else first." Katashi, after having decided to withdraw from the conversation for a while, spoke. He then reached his hand into his pocket and took out a device, the same device that had sent them from the Digital World to the human one, the device that had gotten them separated with one of their friends. "We still have no idea how to use it."

"And what's the problem with that?" Liollmon replied.

"If we don't fix it, how do we go home?" Katashi said plainly. Everyone calmed and quit talking upon hearing that. The impact of that was far too great that none of them bothered to joke around. It had never occurred to them that they faced such a problem. All they had been thinking was that they had to move on for their mission.

"Maybe there'll be shortcuts once we reach our destination." Said Rikuto. "They needed a way to get out of that place, didn't they?"

"What if they stayed there and never left?" Katashi suggested.

"Maybe there's no one there." Said Elsa. "That's the only way I could think of. After all, no one would want to stay in the middle of nowhere for the rest of their lives. And, even if someone did suggest that, there must have been protests, I'm sure."

A howling sound from far behind alerted them, ending the conversation.

* * *

Yuzuki knew that it could no longer be something trivial after she had seen Kaoru struggling to fight his headaches for the second time. He had done quite great a job keeping that secret, but couldn't quite hide it forever. After all, he wasn't in control of his headaches.

"You really should go to the doctor." She said lightly as she helped Kaoru sit down. He had been lying on his bed the whole time when it had happened.

"It'll be fine." He said softly. "I hope."

"But you're nowhere close to fine." The girl said, worried. "I can't let you be like that forever."

"That's not something for you to worry about."

"What'd you mean 'not something for me'? I am your girlfriend, after all."

"I don't want to trouble you for such trivial stuff." Kaoru answered.

"We promised to be honest to one another." She said a bit coldly.

"So?"

"So I want you to tell me everything that you think's not normal on you." She said, suddenly sounding serious and determined.

There was no way he could keep his secrets anymore without risking his relationship with Yuzuki. Though reluctant, he said, "Well, I have been having some strange dreams, and, you saw it, the headaches."

"That's all?"

"You don't trust me?"

"I want to, but you're too good at keeping things to yourself." Said Yuzuki. Even then, she had only just discovered that Kaoru was having strange dreams that she had never heard him say. Curious, she asked. "What kind of dreams?"

Kaoru looked down, apparently refusing to recall whatever he saw during the nights. Still, he said in a soft voice that sounded almost like a whisper. "I...I always found myself back in Piedmon's chamber."

Yuzuki was speechless, so he continued.

"I keep seeing the part where I...died." He finished with a sigh.

"I thought you have gotten past that." Yuzuki replied.

"I thought so too, but that's not the only thing." Kaoru said, "It appeared that I was watching the whole thing happen from a third person view. I saw that I push you away that time, and the glass falling on me. It's almost like I was recalling the whole thing from Millenniummon's view." He sighed again. "I keep wondering if that's something to do with me being alive again."

"I.." Yuzuki started, but could quite find an appropriate word to express herself. She knew only that she had let Kaoru troubled but couldn't help him, and she hated herself for not having found out that earlier, though there would not have been anything she could do. She felt a distance between her and the boy.

"It's alright." Kaoru said as he saw the darkened face of Yuzuki. "I'm here again; that's all that matters, right?" he managed to force a smile, but Yuzuki could tell that he wasn't really relaxed. She could tell the difference between a natural and a forced smile, and she could tell for sure that Kaoru didn't look good in a fake smile, though it was to comfort her.

"Maybe I should get some help from the others." Yuzuki came to the conclusion.

"Others?"

"The other Destined. You remember?"

"But that's nothing to do with them." said Kaoru, irritated. "I don't want to drag everyone into my problem."

"It might not be your problem only if it has something to do with Millenniummmon or whatever brought you back to life." Said Yuzuki with resolve. "I'm afraid that even Cyberdramon leaving you behind was a part of some plan, and I don't want to risk losing you again. So I'll do whatever I can that will really bring you back to me. I'll find a way that can make you normal again."

"What if you can't?" whispered Kaoru. "What if I'll never be who I was again?"

"I'm certain you'll be normal again." Yuzuki replied. "And if you really couldn't. I'll try to adjust to you."

Kaoru remained silent for a moment. There was much going on in his head, and he could feel himself struggling whether to listen to Yuzuki or not. There was nothing wrong with seeking help, he knew that, but he couldn't help but think that he would eventually get someone hurt because of whatever he did. The things he had done before he got his memories back had been more than enough to make him afraid of even himself. Still, he thought about what Yuzuki told him and, somewhere in his heart, he felt that he could be relieved. Therefore, though reluctantly, he nodded.

"But I don't know how they can help me." He said.

"We'll figure out a way; I'm sure."

* * *

"I still don't believe what you said." Said Irene. She sounded causal and gave a genuine smile. "About this village and all that stuff related to a terrible war."

"But that's what actually happened." Kaito replied. "And this really is the place that we're headed to. At least I think this is."

"And you think that there's really this super virus here that could kill Digimon in an instant?"

"I don't know." However hard to say, he admitted that even he had found this place terribly unfamiliar to the description that he had been given. He had imagined that it would be more like a wasteland filled with dusky air and bones half-buried in the ground. But as it turned out, it was a lively village with nothing but peace-lovers. How could such a place hide a lethal weapon?

"I thought maybe you would have some idea." He continued. Irene said no again, and he started to doubt that he had really made a mistake believing that the village was the place he had been headed to. He turned around to look at Blue and Green, who were as lively as usual. "You don't feel something's wrong here?" he asked them. If something that dangerous to Digimon was really there, they should feel something, shouldn't they?

"Nothing at all." They both answered. "Except that I miss the others much."

"And you don't feel weak or dizzy or anything like that?" Irene asked. She received a negative as the answer, which made her believe further that she was right. There was no such menace in her village.

"But then, everything gets complicated." Kaito uttered. _What if she's really right? Then I would have been staying here for no reason at all! All the time we spend since departing, that would all have been for nothing!_ He punched the ground out of frustration.

"Don't get too mad." Irene said. Kaito immediately apologized for having a short temper.

"Then how would they ever find me again?" He uttered. The only thing that made him feel he had been to the correct location was the mountain that towered so high up to the sky that the village seemed to be guarded by a natural gate. That's one of the only things that matched the description. The other was that there was no easy way in or out. If he didn't do anything sooner, he would be trapped there forever, and that scared him.

"You alright?" Irene asked him after his face had gone rigid, lost in thoughts.

"I'm afraid not." He answered plainly. "I can't stay here forever, but I can't find a way out." He sighed. "No, I'm not alright; I'm scared."

"But then, how did you get here in the first place?"

"It was a long story." he replied grimly. "Remember what I told you?"

"That you came here through some sort of teleportation device?"

He nodded. "But I don't have that right now, and even if I had it, I wouldn't know how to make it work."

"Then who has it?"

"I don't know, but hopefully it'd be my friends."

Irene sighed as well. After all the chatting, she found herself pitying Kaito for his story. She had never left the village, so she had no idea of what leaving home would feel like. She just imagined that she went out to gather water, which had been the only times she actually made some distance between her and home. Try to think that she would never return home. She couldn't bear the imagination, so she could only say that she felt sorry for Kaito.

"But that's no reason for doing nothing here." She said. "While you're here, I can show you something nice and make you forget the pain for a little. But don't get me wrong; I don not intend to force you to stay here." She added silently, _though I really don't want you to leave._

"I think that'll be goodbye then," said Kaito, sighing a little. "But, to tell the truth...I am a little attracted to this place as well."

"What?"

"I haven't really been running around here and meeting everyone here, and I don't intend to. But somehow, I feel kind of happy being here, like this place can bring peace to me. I was always worrying about stuffs earlier, and am still. But staying here somehow makes me feel better. I think a little more positive here."

"But you'll have to leave one day." Said Irene. "No one likes getting away from home for so long."

"Yeah. But I think that before I go, I can enjoy staying in here a little longer." Kaito replied. "And, by the way, what was it that you wanted to show me?"

"It's a secret." Said Irene charmingly, putting a finger in front of her closed lips. "You'll know once I get you there."

* * *

"Why is it that we always get into something like this?" Elsa complained. Nobody really cared about her, though.

'We can always fight our way through, I guess." Said BanchoLeomon, preparing for battle.

Right now, the Destined were surrounded by a pack of half a dozen SaberLeomn. They had all been identified as Mega, and so, battling them was not really a good idea, given that only four Digimon were on their side and only BanchoLeomon and Valkyrimon were Mega as well. It was three against one on average.

"Can't we talk this one out?" Katashi suggested, though everyone treated him as if he were transparent as always.

"Not if all they do is staring at you with their mouths watering." Chirinmon said.

Katashi would have complained a little more and wanted to avoid the fight. He had gotten tired of all this battles that started with no reasons at all except that someone else wanted to fight them. Although all that they had done -all the fighting -were mostly out of self-defense, he had started to be annoyed by them. He recalled the events that the previous Destined had come across, and found that they had been much more reasonable during a fight. At least they actually had an enemy to fight.

But, just as he was thinking, one of the SaberLeomon had already taken the initiative and struck, leaping forward with its forelimbs posing straight, ready to tear apart its prey as it snarled. "Howling Crusher!"

Valkyrimon, the intended target, drew her sword swiftly and blocked the attack, sending the SaberLeomon back only for a little as it started to run again, ignoring Valkyrimon's attack as it charged again. Valkyrimon didn't back down, and pointed her sword straight at the SaberLeomon before she, too, started charging towards the Mega. Then, in a swift move, she managed to just avoid the charging SaberLeomon by an inch or so and slashed it with her sword before the two got past each other. The SaberLeomon got down, unable to fight anymore.

"That's one down." Ren uttered.

The other five started to attack as well, each dashing towards a different direction, making it hard for the Destined to keep track on just one of them and take them down one by one.

"Why must you get in our way?" BanchoLeomon grumbled as he landed a punch on one of the SaberLeomon, successfully halting its advance as he used his other hand to push the Mega backward a little. The SaberLeomon only roared in response, so he knew that he would have no choice but to fight them.

Annoyed, BanchoLeomon rushed forward and landed another punch on the SaberLeomon. It wasn't a hard fight, he knew. What he didn't like was that they had to fight when there was absolutely no reason to. He couldn't really bring himself to fight full force. It reminded him of the spiders some time ago, when they had only attacked the Destined because they had walked the wrong way.

The SaberLeomon just kept on repeating its attack pattern, charging at BanchoLeomon. It extended its forelimbs and the claws on them started to shine as if they had just been polished. BanchoLeomon simply put his arms in front of his torso and blocked the SaberLeomon's attack, letting it slide to his side and missing its target.

The SaberLeomon hit a tree hard, almost causing it to bend. But it got up again, still starving for battle. It charged once again, and BanchoLeomon couldn't help but give it a fatal blow, knowing that it would only continue attacking and that it had to be put down. Though unwilling, he watched the Digimon turn into bits of data and reform as a Digi-egg.

Chirinmon had trouble handling a SaberLeomon on his own. He was fast, and calm, but that didn't erase the fact that he was still hopelessly under-level when compared to the SaberLeomon. Each attack he threw at the Mega looked nothing more than a scratch; that couldn't stop the SaberLeomon at all. And, effortlessly, the Mega had swiftly dashed to Chirinmo's side and slammed him with its torso, sending the Ultimate flying away. Chirinmon could only balance itself thanks to the wings he had.

Just as he had gotten his balance back, however, the SaberLeomon had already prepared another wave of attack. And when he could regain a clear sight, the SaberLeomon struck again, sending Chirinmon slamming on the ground hard. Chirinmon got up faster this time, but was still a little too slow to counter another strike from SaberLeomon. As he stood up he saw the SaberLeomon right in front of him, midair, with its claws prepared to slash him.

A pale blue bolt of energy hit the SaberLeomon, setting it off course and slamming on the ground. Chirinmon looked around and found out that it was Valkyrimon who helped him.

"Behind you!" He shouted when a shadow arose from behind Valkyrimon. Turning around a little too slow, the Mega could only take an attack from another SaberLeomon, and though it wasn't a particularly lethal strike, it made her stagger back a little. Chirinmon, despite his disadvantage, leaped forward and struck the sneaky SaberLeomon with his horn, keeping it busy from sneaking to someone's back. Valkyrimon turned at the moment and slashed, her sword colliding with the Mega as it went down.

BanchoLeomon had taken care of two of them with effort. There were only two left, but already he felt that he couldn't go on anymore. The fight was wearing him out faster than he had expected. Fortunately, the others had finished their respective targets and could lend him a helping hand -just what he needed most.

* * *

"Where are we?" asked Kaito as Irene took him to somewhere he felt utmost out of place since he had arrived at the village. It had all seemed kind of sandy and hot back there, and it had never appeared that there were such thing as color. Everything had been covered with sand that could be nothing more than brown. But now, he saw something different. Irene was leading him onto a path where not only shrubs, but small flowers were present. It felt refreshing just by the looks of it.

"Somewhere I keep only to myself." The girl answered. She took Kaito by his wrist and dragged him forward as she half jogged, half jumped.

"A place so secret that I had to leave Blue and Green behind?"

"You can say that." She said. "Actually they could have come too, but..." _I just want to come with you alone._ She added silently.

"But what?" confused, Kaito asked.

"Nothing, really." Answered Irene. "Maybe we'll let them come along another time. But, since we're so close to it, I don't feel like turning back to them."

Kaito sensed a trace of guilt in his heart. But, as Irene had suggested, he, too, didn't want to walk all the way back to pick them up. _They'll be fine staying in the village._ He silently persuaded himself. _If there's one thing the are, they're likable._

The two walked for a few minutes until Kaito found that the entire area had been covered in shadows of trees, leaving dots of sunlight on the ground and on the plants themselves. No sooner, he heard something. It sounded kind of strange at first, but he slowly recognized it as something he had heard before, though he couldn't exactly recall when he had heard something like that.

"And there we are!" Irene uttered cheerfully.

Kaito was so absorbed that he didn't really hear her. In front of him was a fresh water stream. He remembered, then, that he had never really seen a stream like that before. Little wonder he hadn't been able to recognize the sound of water current earlier. He paced forward slowly and had given all his attention to the stream. The water there was so clear that it appeared as though nothing were there at all, though the tiny dots of sunlight made it glister like a diamond. There were, however, no residents as it appeared.

"What do you think about it?"

"I...I've never seen something like this before." He answered hesitantly. "It's beautiful."

"Thanks for the complement." Said Irene. "Though the only thing I did was finding it."

Kaito couldn't help but let himself be attracted to all his surroundings. It appeared so peaceful that he had almost forgotten his troubles, the separation between him and his teammates, and the overly great desire to see his brother again. It just made him relax.

"You said it was your secret base." He uttered, though his eyes were still looking else where. "How did you keep this place from any others, and why?"

"How? That was easy. You just have to make sure that no one knows where you're going. Why, that's the question." She paused a little and sighed. He had never seen her sigh before. "As you might have noticed, our village faces a little trouble of not having enough water. Sometimes, we have to go out there and collect water from wells or other sources. Just imagine what people would do with this place if they found out there's so much water here?"

Kaito remained silent for a moment. He hadn't quite listened to anything during class, yet he remembered something about over-exploiting of resource. This would be one of those cases, he thought. Then he nodded in agreement. It's hard to imagine what people would do to such a beautiful place just because they needed resources, however harsh their lives were.

"Don't just stand there like a statue!" Irene's voice came with a splash of water, instantly wetting the back of Kaito's shirt as he turned around just in time for another splash of water heading towards him. It hit him between his eyes, making him blink and stagger a few steps backwards.

"What're you doing?" he asked, greeted by another splash. "My shirt's all wet!" he complained as he found out that he had landed half his leg into the stream. He instantly took it out, but his shoes had already absorbed much water that it now weighted his leg down like a rock.

"I never played with water before." Said the girl, approaching Kaito, who was swinging his arms hard to shake of as much water on him as possible. "It's kind of fun, isn't it?"

"Don't you care that people might say you're wasting water?" he asked as he decided to take off his shoes and shirt for a while as he, too, jumped into the stream and splash Irene with a handful of water, smiling.

'People don't need to know." She said as she did the same to Kaito, who laughed as the cold water contacted with his bare chest, where his injury had been for the last couple of days. It was hard to believe that a cut like that had healed so fast.

Laughing almost like maniacally, he approached Irene and dragged her into the water too, so that they were now all wet, splashing water or not. Suddenly he had forgotten everything he had been worrying about. Right now, the childish part inside of him had taken over, and all he wanted was to have fun.

Irene took off her outer clothes as well, wearing only a black tank top. She was, for the first time, playing with someone. Back in the village, all she had known to do was how to stay alive, therefore she had been sent to get water for more than ten times in a week and had been learning to be a healer. She didn't hate those, but there had been, to her, no real fun in her life. She wondered why she could open up to Kaito that quickly, some stranger that she had just met about a week ago.

* * *

The Destined, however, weren't having as relaxing a time as Kaito and Irene were. The remaining two SaberLeomon had proved to be more than troublesome, and their hit-and-run tactics had almost driven them insane. They tried to get as far away as possible, but the SaberLeomon would just find them no matter what, and block their path.

"Just leave us alone already!" BanchoLeomon shouted as he swung his arm and threw a punch, which missed its target. The SaberLeomon he was fighting was somehow more agile than the previous, and the temper of BanchoLeomon only made him miss his target more.

Nearby, Valkyrimon had already taken the other one down, which lay on the floor with its eyes closed. It was barely unconscious. When she turned around, she saw BanchoLeomon being thrown aside to a tree, almost cracking the trunk. She got to his side quickly, but there was no sign of the last SaberLeomon at all.

That was when a scream came.

"Help me!" It was from Rikuto. Scanning the surroundings swiftly, the Destined could, nevertheless, find any sign of him being there. His voice echoed a bit, so they couldn't identify his whereabouts with his voice. They all stood still, preparing for an ambush. That was when Kynan noticed that there were a linear motion of leaves on nearby trees that suggested something walking in one direction. He told the others quietly, so that SaberLeomon, the one he hoped to have caused the movement, would not be aware.

Both BanchoLeomn and Valkyrimon prepared to strike, but they never had to. The SaberLeomon had jumped out from behind the tree before they could even think, its mouth locking Rikuto's leg with him so that he couldn't get free.

"Let him go!" Valkyrimon shouted and launched a bolt of energy from her crossbow. The SaberLeomon drifted and agilely avoided the attack, only to find BanchoLeomon's fist on its side, getting punched right to the head. It roared, losing Rikuto at the moment, and crash-landed.

The others quickly helped Rikuto walk and backed to their side while Valkyrimon gave a finishing blow to the SaberLeomon.

"Lucky you aren't bleeding much." Said Ren, the first one to get to Rikuto's side. She immediately took out a pack of bandages and antiseptic and cleaned the wound on his leg before wrapping it in white bandages, which instantly turned dark red.

"I'm so useless, aren't I?" Rikuto muttered in a whisper, but Ren could hear him all the same.

"Of course you aren't." She whispered, feared that the others might overhear them and make Rikuto feel bad. "It's just that you happened to be targeted; that's all."

"What's a Tamer without his partner?" he kept on saying. "When we first met, you told me that a Tamer works with his partner Digimon, right? But now, with both Blue and Green gone, I'm nothing but a burden, aren't I?"

"Of course you're not." The girl replied as gently as she could, though it still sounded a little harsh. "You're not a burden! We are a team, remember? No one is a burden in any teams."

"But I couldn't do anything." Rikuto replied, a tiny drop of tear escaping his eye. "I just get you in trouble."

"Keep saying that and I think I would slap you." Said Ren. Her voice was calm, but she appeared obviously irritated. "Can't you just pretend that nothing happened and play along with us so we can get our job done faster?"

"But I..."

"Never mind what I said." Said Ren as she turned and joined the rest of the group. "if you like to pity yourself that much, be my guest."

And so when she had finally gotten to the others, she told them to keep moving immediately, purposefully leaving Rikuto behind. There were questions, but she insisted that they should just ignore him and go on. Moments before they left his eyesight, however, Rikuto got up reluctantly and jogged towards the others despite his injury that made each step worse than the previous. The others, noting that he was coming, waited for him and when they really took off, he was with them.

* * *

Kaito had completely forgotten the concept known as time. Playing with Irene was something that made him feel special. He hadn't really gotten along with other kids back home, so he never really understood why people would just gather into a group and start laughing simultaneously whenever one of them spoke. He now knew why.

"Thanks for taking me here." He told Irene, lying on soft grass that made his back a little itchy. He was glad that he had taken off his shirt, or he would have to use another hour or two trying to dry it.

Irene was lying next to him. She tilted her head a little to his direction and smiled. "Not a big deal."

They both laughed for no observable reasons.

She then turned her attention towards Kaito, especially his right hand, which had a giant scar across the back of his hand. She had noticed it the day she had found Kaito, but she had forgotten too frequently to ask what caused it. "So, where'd that come from?" she asked softly.

Kaito lifted his hand and examined the scar. Most of the time he hid it with his gloves, which had been left behind by him. He always preferred to keep it to himself, but this time, he didn't feel particularly hard to tell this to Irene. If there's one thing he could be sure, that'd be that he had completely opened up to her.

"I told you I have a brother, didn't I?"

"Yes."

"And, when we were little, there was someone that tried to hurt him." He said. Though it was not a fund idea recalling it, he continued. "And one time, that someone tried to hit him with a belt as a whip, and I couldn't stand watching that, so I ran up and took his place." He turned his hand as if something was on it and touched the scar by a finger as he had it slide across the scar. "That was a long time ago."

"You'll make a good brother." Said Irene. "And know he's coming to get you?"

"I believe he is."

And then the both of them stood up. There were no more words, but they kept moving slowly to one another. And, before the sky turned red and signaled them to get back, their lips were pressed with one another's.


	28. Reunion

-Reunion-

Meeting the others made Kaoru feel normal. That's a good thing, he thought, at least he didn't have to spend all his time waiting for something terrible to happen while he actually didn't want any of those. To a certain extend, it felt even fun seeing the others. It helped him calm down.

"-and so, sorry, but I don't have any idea what is going on." Takumi concluded after having been asked for perhaps the third. "I don't know everything."

"But at least you know more than most of us do." Said Lilymon X. Though she wasn't particularly friendly with Kaoru, just being a part of the team made her feel obliged to do something to help the boy.

"But I can't lie to make everyone feel better." The redhead continued. "I'd rather be blamed than to do something I don't know that would result in who-knows-what."

"He has a point." MetalPhantomon, his partner Digimon, said. "He's only good when he's with machines, not biology."

"Besides, I'm only fifteen years old! I wouldn't just pretend to be a doctor even if I had all that knowledge."

"So this trip is useless?" Kaoru muttered. "Sorry I bothered all of you."

"You still have no idea what being a part in a team means, do you?" Said Eiji. "Can't we just meet with one another without having to discuss serious business?"

"He speaks that way, but he's actually pretty bored as well." Said Pteramon. "At least that's what I guess."

The really bored one was, in fact, Ryosuke, who had partially left his seat to wander around. Not that he didn't like being with his friends. He just couldn't stand sitting for more than an hour in one seat. That impulsive instinct that drove him away from the others, nevertheless, helped them too, as the youngest boy stumbled across a glass wall and got a good view of what's happening outside the building they were in. He could not mistake it after having been in the Digital World with all those crazy things the last year. So, when he saw a purple vortex like thing in the middle of nowhere, he knew what was happening. He ran back to warn the others.

* * *

They're almost there. At least, that's what they hoped. Day after day, their mind had been set on nothing but their destination, which had seemed unreachable at first. This time, however, they could actually see their hope materialize. They were finished with the mountain, and had reached a smoother, border ground. Though it wasn't particularly visible, they could be sure that the location indicated by the map was no far away.

"Next time, remind me not to wear that much. It's hot out here." Elsa complained again. Previously, she had made numerous babbling about having to walk far too often and not having enough rest. She had been acting like she could care less about the fate of the world and just go home, yet she had been sticking with the party the whole time. And, to be honest, her partner, LadyDevimon, had been more than helpful in some scenarios.

Katashi tried for another time; he couldn't remember who often he'd asked her this. "Why did you join us in the first place?"

The girl winked and gave him a smirk. "Serve me well, and I might consider sharing."

"Not gonna happen."

"Then you know my answer." She said playfully.

"Anyway. Let's just get going onward. I have the feeling that the worst part was finished." Said Katashi. _Or at least I hope so._ He added silently.

The group went on. It was quite pleasant that they had not run into any other vicious Digimon for a long time. Katashi secretly did the math, and found out that only two Digimon -LadyDevimon and Chirinmon -had not yet Digivolved into Mega. He didn't count Blue and Green in, since they had been lost with Kaito. He could only hope that Kaito would be there when they reached their destination.

"So, that's how it feels like, living out here?" During a break, Rikuto asked Kynan. Though he, like any others, found Kynan a little intimidating, he figured that he would need his advice sooner or later, when he had to look for his brother. There was the possibility that he would never find him, which he wanted to deny. But if that happened, he wanted to be prepared. He needed an expert's advice.

Except, Kynan was reluctant on talking about that topic. "I don't think you'd like to hear that." He said plainly.

"I need your words." He replied. _If you could stay alive alone for that long, that may mean that Kai, too, could manage himself._

"Just what are you trying to say?" Kynan asked. "I don't think recalling the past can do you any good."

"Besides," Kudamon added. "You'd only think worse once you listened to us."

"So you're keeping it from us, so we feel better?"

"So that you have hope that this quest could be done."

* * *

"That's too risky of him, isn't it?" Yuzuki muttered. Not long ago, Ryosuke had reported seeing a Gate and that someone, most likely Cyberdramon, had come out of it. The Destined didn't need time to be prepared. As reckless as it sounded, there was simply no way that a single Digimon could take on their entire team.

"We'd better be careful, though." Jesmon said. The team had left their gathering room and was now staying at not far away from Cyberdramon. It was an open space -a garden, to be specific. People had already started running away from the Digimon. It seemed that the only living beings there were the Destined and Cyberdramon himself.

"No sign of that Gulfmon." Amy uttered. "That's unfortunate."

The Digimon readied for the oncoming battle. All of them, except MetalPhantomon, Digivolved into their respective Mega.

"Don't be shy; come out of your hiding!" Cyberdramon's words hovered in the air as he raised his voice. Even in such an open space, he sounded like his voice had been echoed for some times. The Destined, of course, did exactly what he asked.

"He must have gotten insane." Ryosuke whispered. "That's just suicide."

"You notice he's been insane for some time?" Eiji said.

Yuzuki grabbed Kaoru by his arm and half-dragged him to the back of a tall building. "Stay here." She said. Despite his protests, she couldn't let him out to the battlefield. Cyberdramon had clearly come for him, she knew. Even Kaoru himself knew that Cyberdramon had done something to him so that he was different than the others. He would only get in others' way.

The fight had already begun, and its progress was incredibly quick. With just a few quick slashes from Jesmon and a few red-hot chain-whips from SkullMeramon and some energy blasts from the others, Cyberdramon had already lost its footing, dropping to his knees. Unlike previous battles, though, he seemed less agile and reflexive, as if he had just been beaten by something else first before the battle. All the same, he had lost quickly.

"The finishing blow." Jesmon walked to Cyberdramon's front and raised one of his swords, ready for a strike.

Cyberdramon spoke for the first time since his appearance. "You sure you want to kill me?"

No responses.

"That doesn't sound too heroic of you. I was guessing that you guys couldn't just finish someone off, especially if that someone was unarmed."

"You're wrong, then." MetalPhantomon said. "Compared to how many you have killed, finishing you off feels like nothing."

Cyberdramon didn't say anything. Jesmon's arm dropped.

Cyberdramon was still alive. The blade hadn't gone through his head, and instead landed right next to it, scaring his shoulder armor. But that's it.

"Told you."

And then sirens sounded, and the official force, police or Tamers or whatever, had come there. The Destined were dismissed and Cyberdramon was left with the officials. Despite all the protests the Destined made about how dangerous Cyberdramon was and that the inexperienced police force shouldn't underestimate him, they ignored them and brought the Digimon into their vehicle like how they treat any other human criminals. They still used the old way of exiling Digimon.

"That's the biggest mistake they can make." They all agreed, but could do nothing.

* * *

Kaito wondered if he would have to stay there for the rest of his life. He had been behaving optimistically for the last few weeks, and had been kept company by Irene. Still, he didn't feel like the place was where he belonged.

He wandered street after street, if those could be called that way. Now that he had time wandering around, he had come to notice that the village was really a small one. Roughly guessing, there weren't even ten families there. The so-called streets acted more like roads that simply connected houses to houses. And it seemed that there wasn't the concept of currency, as there were no shops at all. People do all kind of services to one another for free.

"Something bothering you?" Blue asked.

"Don't tell me you're not worried as well." He answered quietly.

"We've been here for far too long." Green sighed. "I can only imagine Riku's face for so long. I miss him, and the others, too."

Kaito comforted him by patting his head. He had known for quite some time that Green was particularly close to his brother, like Blue being particularly close to him. He didn't want to think that way, but it would seem that Blue and Green were property that could split to two haves for the two brothers. "I've grown tired saying this, but I think he'll be all right and back with us soon."

"Let's hope so." Said Blue. "I don't want to leave this place after I've gotten close to the people here. That would make me want to stay."

"Yeah, I've grown quite attached to this place as well."

A shout from behind alerted the trio. They turned and saw someone yelling something he couldn't quite make out of. It would appear that the shout was meant to be something like a siren, but the people there didn't seem too alert and prepared.

 _Maybe there's another Digimon attack?_ Thought Kaito as he gestured the two Dracomon to go with him and see what happened.

As he reached there, however, there was nothing to be worried about. Seemingly the entire population of the village gathered at one place -the gate that led to the wilderness outside, where Irene claimed that she had found Kaito there.

"Something wrong?" He found Irene in the crowd that wasn't really crowded, and asked.

"I don't know as well." The girl answered. "But it seemed like someone had spotted something far ahead."

"Wild Digimon again?" Blue asked.

"If it were, we'd have been prepared for now. However, having no signal this time means that there's something special about this."

"Anyway, shouldn't you all go to somewhere safe, in case it really is a threat?" Kaito suggested.

"Maybe." Irene replied. "But it seems that curiosity won this time."

Kaito squeezed his way through the others, to the side of the close gate, and climbed a little high above to see the outside. He didn't see anything, though. Or, to be precise, he couldn't. It was sandy out there, and immediately he tried to cover his eyes because of the suspended particles in the air. After a moment or two he had gotten adjusted to the air, but could still barely open his eyes. He still couldn't see anything noteworthy.

* * *

Being trapped in the middle of a sandstorm was nowhere close to enjoyable. Just a moment ago, the Destined had been traveling with satisfactory efficiency, and they had spotted something far in front of them, something that looked like a large wall made of woods. There, they believed, was the place they had to go to.

Just a few moments after that, however, a sandstorm, or just an intense dust-storm, as suggested by Kynan. halted their advance. "A true sandstorm is way more dangerous." He said.

The most unfortunately part was that there was no hiding. They had come out of the woods for quite some time, and had nowhere to go at the moment. Only two choices appeared before them: get going, or head back. Neither seemed good, but they picked choice number one, knowing that they needed to go on either way. Advancing seemed to be more reasonable and practical.

But right now, with the storm intensifying, they had no choice but to stop for a moment. LadyDevimon used her summoned bats to create a living wall that had the Destined covered, but that wasn't really enough. Sand particles found their way into them and caused all sort of troubles -Katashi had a hard time keeping his eyes open as the sand got into his eye; Elsa was having trouble inhaling and exhaling since she wasn't particularly good at holding her breath; Rikuto kept patting and shoving his shorts whenever the sands found a way to get into him, and he now regret no having worn long trousers.

"I hate it." Elsa complained, spitting a mouthful of sand as she finished.

"Keeping quiet helps." Kynan whispered next to her. "It won't last long."

* * *

It seemed that nothing made sense anymore. Just a few months ago, Cyberdramon had been a great threat to all of them, with various unexpected tactics and seemingly a plan that was supposed to be grander than all else. And yet, here he were, defeated by the Destined because he dared face them alone. He couldn't even put up a fight. Something felt wrong, but no one knew what.

"Let's just forget that and celebrate now that we've gotten rid of him." Said Ryosuke. "That's what I would want to say, but..."

"We all know he lost on purpose." Yuzuki sighed. "What could he be up to this time?"

She turned and gazed at the battlefield once more. So far, the scene had been cleaned up quite neatly, without even a trace of the battle. The officials had done a good job cleaning up messes. That, however, didn't seem like a good sign for the Destined. The reason is simple: they allowed Cyberdramon to live and was now concealing him in some sort of super cells that was supposed to be capable of holding him captive forever.

"I don't like saying this, but we should have finished him off." Said Jesmon. "He's too dangerous to be kept alive."

"Yeah." Takumi uttered. "It's the only time I don't feel bad about having homicidal thoughts."

"Who knows what will happen." Kaoru signed. "There must be something else. He didn't even summon Gulfmon to help him."

"Good thing there's no casualty this time." Said Yuzuki, before realizing that she had spoken something incredibly stupid. Kaoru looked down at the pavement, obviously disturbed by what Yuzuki had said. There had been casualty before, and it had costed him his dearest friend. He didn't want to recall that scene ever again. Yuzuki apologized immediately, but he just shoved her off and shook his head a little. "He can't hurt anyone anymore." He said. "That's the most important part."

"Right." Yuzuki muttered, before she lost control of her voice and screamed a little as she rushed and got Kaoru in her arms. He was suffering from the headache again, barely able to stand this time. Both his hands wrapped around his head as he kneel down, about to fall.

"What's that?" Takumi uttered in surprise.

"That's the reason we meet here today." Said Yuzuki, though her eyes never left Kaoru. "This is what we talked about."

Kaoru's situation had gotten worse. He curled into a ball, lying on the ground. His breath quickened, and he was struggling not to scream out of the pain, leaving him making agonizing grunts. He couldn't feel anything besides the pain, not even Yuzuki's warm arms that prevented him from falling. All he could see were colors blended together, and all he could hear were muffed sounds like harsh breeze, making him feel like a dozen of mosquitoes were hovering around his head buzzing. Someone, probably one of the Destined, said something and approached him, but he couldn't make out who that was. Several seconds passed, but he didn't feel normal again, like he would have a few days ago. It finally went to a state where he couldn't see or hear or feel again. Darkness consumed his vision, and in the midst of it, he saw an unwelcome shape.

He saw the glowing eye of Millinniummon.

* * *

"I can see them now!" Irene said excitedly. Kaito, who had climbed on the wall a little for a better sight, could still find nothing. He didn't have excellent eyesight, but he didn't have defects either. Over the sands, all he could see were shapes walking, or being blown by the storm nearby. He couldn't really make out what that was.

"You sure you see something?" he climbed down, asking Irene.

The girl nodded, and he climbed back up again.

Still nothing.

"You need a helping hand?" he heard Blue hovering behind him. "Maybe we can fly out there to see what's happening."

"No; we stay here." Kaito replied. "I don't want to lose you out there."

"But it's easy for us. We can fly." Green added.

"But that seems dangerous..."

"Everything we have done has been dangerous," Said Blue. "And we're still here, nice and fine."

"Besides, we can defend ourselves out there." Said Green. "Just let us go, please?"

"You have already made up your mind, haven't you?" Kaito uttered and sighed. "Well, you've a point, though."

The two Dracomon jumped in delight, and Digivolved into Coredramon. "Off we go then!" They shouted, and then got out of Kaito's sight.

* * *

There wasn't mush to say about the Destined when the sandstorm was finally over. Their vision became clear again, and the structure far away seemed less and less like a mirage and more like solid buildings. It indicated that they were really, really close to their destination.

"Finally." Ren said, sounding satisfied.

"Shouldn't you be worrying about if that's an illusion? We are in the middle of a desert, you know." Said Elsa, looking around. "Well, it might not be a real desert, but it kind of feels like one."

"And would you just quit talking and work on walking?" Katashi added. "We're so close, and I don't want get anything wrong here."

"That's not gonna happen." Said Liollmon. "I sense something coming. I might need to Digivolve again."

"I wonder why all Digimon come to us like that?" Elsa complained. "Shouldn't there at least be some that don't want to attack anyone?"

"Those do exist." Said Kynan. "They just keep themselves hidden, so all that we meet are the aggressive ones."

"I don't want to fight again." Uttered LadyDevimon. "Covering you guys up during that sandstorm kind of wore me out."

"Well, like it or not, we'll have to be prepared." Said Katashi.

"They're coming, fast." Said Kudamon. Far on the other side of the horizon, two shapes appeared, each traveling fast so that their outline were invisible, leaving only colors streaks.

"That's something different." Commented Liolmon. He didn't even have the time to be ready. The shapes were faster than anyone expected and in just a slit second they had already made their way to the Destined. Fortunately, they meant no harm. There was a moment when the Destined started to consider the possibility that they had to fight, again.

Just knowing that the shapes were actually the two Coredramon settled everything.

"It's that really you guys?" Katashi said in astonishment. He had expected to see them again, but not that soon.

They both nodded.

"Hurry and follow us!" Said Blue. "Kai's waiting for you."

"So he really is here?" Uttered Katashi. "He's _there_?"

They both nodded again. And, without further delay, the Coredramon led the way to the village, where Kaito was waiting for the others. _So this is really the end._ Thought Katashi. _We get there, get the job done, and then it_ _'_ _ll be okay._

* * *

When the guards had left, Cyberdramon giggled subtly. What were they thinking, putting him in a normal cell like some normal and insignificant Digimon. _Well, let them think that way._ He said silently. And then, without much hesitation, he rose up, pacing slowly towards the so-called gate that locked him in the cell. _With_ _that kind of security, anyone can get in and out at will._ He thought as he smashed the metal wall with just one fist. Those walls were different than most metal bars used in normal prisons. After all, people had to consider the special power each Digimon could possess, and had to make the cell indestructible.

Cyberdramon laughed at that thought as he proudly walked out of the filthy room. No guards, no alarms, no nothing. That's way too sloppy, he thought.

 _But that_ _'_ _s what I_ _'_ _m counting on._


	29. To the place they seeked

-To the place they seeked-

It didn't even take half an hour as soon as the Destined were found by both Blue and Green. There was a little chat, which was mostly comprised of "I'm so worried about you", "good to see you alive." Sort of things. As if the world itself had given petty to the party for their more than frequent encounters with wild Digimon along the road, they experienced nothing during the time they followed the Coredramon.

When the arrived at the village where Kaito was staying, they were greeted by a bunch of people, though there weren't really that many, due to the small population of the village.

"I don't like it." Liollmon said lightly, looking down on the road to escape direct eye contact with the villagers, who had all been curious to see someone not from their village.

"I'm just glad that we finally get to see another human being." Katashi answered dryly, though he was, too, unaccustomed to being watched that closely by strangers.

"Please tell me this place can at least let me take a shower." Elsa joined the conversation. "I can't stand not having one for so long."

There were other chatters, mostly among the villagers. None of the group cared what they were saying, proceeding in getting into the village and finding their lost member.

The most prominent meeting, however, didn't occur until some time later. Ever since he'd set foot in the village, Rikuto had been turning his head left and right, looking to-and-fro, but could find no trace of his brother. He wanted to wander off on his own, but couldn't really find a way to do so with so many people watching. Knowing that Kaito was alive and well from the Coredramon had done little to lift his mood. He needed to see him, face to face, to make sure.

As if knowing what he was thinking, the Coredramon turned around and pointed to a building, saying that they had left Kaito there. Without a word, and regardless of what the others might think of him, Rikuto left the party and dashed as fast as he could towards the building, which was just a tiny wooden house. Arriving there he placed his hands on his knees while gasping heavily for air. All those didn't really concern him, though. After just a second's rest he had already gotten into the house, since the door wasn't locked.

 _Not here, not here, not here either._ His mind could only operate one function now, to track down Kaito as soon as possible. In just a second's time he had concluded that he wasn't on the ground floor, and so he rushed to the staircase, already forgotten his exhaustion, when he bumped into someone and fell back, stumbling a few steps behind, barely keeping himself balanced.

"You're back already?" said a female voice. Rikuto lifted his head quickly and saw a girl with white hair, like him, who seemed pretty shock to see him.

"I'm sorry, but do I know you?" he asked.

The girl stared at him for a long time, examining his face thoroughly so that it seemed as though he had been disfigured, though he was pretty sure he wasn't. "What are you playing at?" she asked again.

"I really don't know you." Rikuto replied, his vision kept going up, to the first floor. "But I have something important to do right now, and you're getting in my way." As he said so he gently pushed the girl aside and started taking his first step onto the staircase before the girl held him by his sleeve and said, "What's wrong with you, Kaito?"

Rikuto stopped at once and looked back at the girl. _Of course it is. How would I forget that?_ "You know my brother?"

"Your brother…" the girl muttered, "He did mention something like that." She then pulled Rikuto by his sleeve so that he was forced to go down a stair. "Now that you've said that, it really seemed that you're different person." Her eyes kept scanning Rikuto as she leaned closer to examine the details, which embarrassed Rikuto a bit as he staggered a few steps backwards. "Even your clothes are a bit different."

"So, you know my brother?"

"Of course I do. I'm the one who saved him." The girl said, a bit proudly.

"Then where's he right now?"

"He saw someone at the gate, and thought that his Digimon friends had returned. And then, before I could stop it, he had rushed to the gate of the village."

"But I didn't see him when I got here."

"You must have just missed him."

Without even saying a word, Rikuto turned his head and headed for the outside almost instantaneously. It would make him feel guilty normally, turning someone down impolitely, but his mind didn't even have the capacity to process that emotion now. Just as he ran out of the door, the others had just arrived, and were therefore a bit shocked to see him rushing to somewhere else.

"He sure is energetic." Elsa uttered. "After all these days in the wild and he's not even tired."

"He just misses his brother." Katashi replied. "I bet you'd do the same if you were him."

"Glad I'm not."

* * *

It was already too late when Smith found out what's wrong. He was supposed to be the 'administrator' of the Destined, meaning that he would be held responsible for what the Destined did wrong. This time, however, he had had other forces to deal with Cyberdramon instead of letting the kids do whatever they thought best, which meant death for the lethal Digimon.

And now, the problem had revealed itself: Cyberdramon had broken free, in one of the most important places in the city. The poorly designed prison was right inside of one of the most important facility –the complex that contained vital and dangerous setups. Everything could go wrong easily there, from incomplete developments in a research lab, to the security center that could easily observe the entire city. And had personally invited Cybderdramon to access all that.

 _The children had not discovered that yet._ The thought of having them to aid was ignored. Believing that he was still in control of things, he simply put more effort in strengthening the security guard there.

* * *

Their reunion wasn't really one of the most moving ones.

Instead, it was quite a messy one.

Right after Rikuto had rushed out of the house to actively look for Kaito he had been gone in a matter of seconds. The rest of the team, deciding that the twins would both go there once they had been reunited, simply accepted the girl, who called herself Irene, invitation. And then there they waited for about half an hour before seeing both Kaito and Rikuto return.

"What took you guys so long?" Elsa demanded, resting her head on her palm.

"We almost ran in oppositet directions every time, so I guess that lengthened the trip." Said Kaito. "Anyway, how did you know where I am?"

"I'd say you knew where we'd go." Said Kynan. "How long have you been here, and why hadn't you tried to at least look for us?"

"I only guessed that I was in the right place." Said Kaito. "Anyway, it's kind of a relief to see you guys again." _I almost thought_ _I'_ _d be lost forever._ He added silently.

"Aren't we forgetting something here?" Said Ren in a sudden. The others looked at her with strange faces for a moment before realizing what she was talking about.

"Right." Said Katashi. "We're not here for sightseeing."

"The virus; it was said to be here." Kynan turned to Kaito with a questioning look. Kaito simply shook his head.

"You know nothing about that?" Liollmon asked, to which Kaito responded by nodding. Liollmon then turned to the Dracomon and asked the same question, getting the same answers as well.

"I've done all I could, but it seemed that nobody here really knows about it." He said. "The people here didn't even know what I meant. Maybe we've all gone to the wrong destination, or perhaps it has been so long that nobody really cares about it anymore."

"The map showed that it was here." Muttered Kynan. "And when he gave it to me, he looked so sincere. There's no way we all came here for nothing. And Cyberdramon, he wouldn't have made us go through all this knowing that it's fake, would he?"

Kudamon, leaning close to Kynan, whispered. "I really think we have to consider that possibility."

Kynan turned his head around so he wouldn't be facing the others, and shoved Kudamon lightly from his shoulder. Being dispirited, he went outside to calm himself down a little first, or so he wanted, before Elsa grabbed him by his arm and dragged him back to the others. The boy's strength allowed him to shake off her effortlessly, but he chose not to, and returned to the others, though it was apparent that he was not paying attention to the others anymore. Even his eyes looked dull.

"Actually, I may have lied a little when you first asked me." Said Irene lightly.

"What'd you mean?" Kaito asked gently.

The girl walked forth, so that she was sitting right in the circle the Destined had formed. She then held out her left hand, revealing something like a bangle with silver color and a simplistic design, though a few uniform blue bits were on there to break up the consistent silver. Kait hadn't paid much attention to this, making it hard to believe that the blue dots now seemed to be actually glowing lightly. The technology in the village never seemed so modern. There wouldn't be a way that the villagers could make this but couldn't change their harsh living.

"What is it?" Katashi asked, curious.

"This was passed to me by my late father." She said, her voice barely audible. And, for the first time, Kaito thought he saw sorrow on her face, though she covered that up quickly. "I never really know why this would be an important item. I thought it was just for decoration."

"Sounds reasonable." Kudamon uttered. "But then what happened?"

Irene took in a deep breathe, closed her eyes for a while, looking like deep in thought for a second or two. "There was a night when I couldn't sleep, so I wandered around the house. It was perfectly fine at first, until I saw the bangle glowing. Immediately I knew something was wrong, and so I examined it. But then, just when I touched the bangle, I found myself in a completely different place. I thought that was a part of a weird dream…"

"But you remembered it anyway?" Asked Kynan.

"I thought I was dreaming, as I thought. But then I knew I wasn't, because, in that place I had gone to, I picked a piece of stone that looked smoother than any other. When I woke up…I didn't mention I fell asleep quickly, did I?"

"No." Said Katashi. Everyone gave him a mean look. "Let's continue."

"When I woke up, I was on my bed and I really thought I had had a strange dream, except that stone was there with me as well. I couldn't make sense of it, and I was afraid that others might laugh at me for this, so I kept it hidden. It wasn't a big deal, not then, at least."

"So, when did it happen?" Katashi asked.

"About a year ago."

* * *

"What're you doing here?" Kaoru asked when he first regained consciousness. Looking around he could figure out the members of the Digi-Destined, but couldn't quite tell where he was. "What happened? I can't remember."

"Well, just now, your headache went a bit too far and you fainted." A familiar voice came from beside him. He turned to find out that it was Yuzuki. "We're in Katashi's house now. His parents were nice and lend us the place while he's gone."

Kaoru managed to make himself up straight and climbed down the bed. Believing that he'd been fully recovered, he paced slowly and tried to get out of the room, but was stopped by Eiji.

"We can't let you out yet." Said the older boy.

"But I'm fine."

"You just fainted for no reason. I don't think that could be called fine!"

Yuzuki walked close to Kaoru and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Everyone here's just trying to help you."

Kaoru reluctantly walked back to the bed and sat down. "There's nothing we can do, anyway."

"There was not." Uttered Amy. "But there is now."

"What're you talking about?" Ryosuke asked.

"You're here all because of Cyberdramon, aren't you?"

Kaoru nodded. Amy continued. "And right now, we have him captured."

"Which means?" Yuzuki muttered.

"We can just go and make him talk." The older girl replied.

Kaoru got out of the bed once again and walked to the door. This time, no one stopped him.

"Isn't that a little rushed for now?" Asked Takumi.

"I can't wait any longer." The blonde boy answered. "I want to get rid of all these as soon as possible."

* * *

The Digital World was in a total mess when everybody important was not there –except for Gulfmon.

The Digimon was faithful to Cyberdramon, who somehow seemed to be his master, and he remembered one thing before Cyberdramon departed. One simple order. And now, he was there burning up for probably the third village that he had come across as he roamed the Digital World. It was an easy job, killing everyone in sight by sucking them straight into his belly. It sounded gross, but that's the way the Digimon got stronger and stronger every time he stumbled onto a small village.

But that wasn't his mission at all. All that he had eaten could only be considered as side effects. His goal wasn't to destroy every thing on sight. No; Cyberdramon's plan was way greater than that.

Now that he had almost wiped out three villages, words spread. At first, there were only rumors about it, but then it became something that could bring up fear and panic. Villages everywhere started to strengthen their guards for fear that they would be Gulfmon's next targets.

But then Gulfmon stopped the massive killing. Most of the time when he approached a village, a few small ones would come forth and be exterminated. Their deaths become something far more powerful than the unsettling aura that Gulfmon brought. Soon there were no resistances at all, and that was when Gulfmon carried out his true mission –to gather as much Digimon as he could and make them compliant to Cyberdramon's command by whatever means possible. Now, the terror had gathered Gulfmon more than a hundred of minions.

And that all happened in just the last four days.

* * *

Katashi found himself speechless again. He had mostly felt this way when he was sleeping, or pretending to be. He knew that the team had discussed things without him, didn't really care much for his opinions, and sometimes even he himself felt a little invisible when it came to teamwork. Sometime he really questioned his purpose of being there: to take over the place of Yuzuki, the former friendly-neighborhood to whom he had a crush on. _How long has it been since_ _I_ _left? I hope she_ _'_ _s_ _all right…_

"Katashi!" he heard Ren calling him, coming back to reality.

"What's wrong?" he uttered apologetically.

"We're discussing about this bangle that seems strange, aren't we?" the girl replied.

Katashi brought his attention to the bangle on Irene's arm. He had never seen or heard of or even imagined something like that, so it was normal that he didn't really think much about it. _If she_ _'_ _s telling the truth, then it might be our only chance to get that virus and get the job done._ He recalled the last few lines he heard, about that bangle acting weird about a year ago. That would be the day when Piedmon, or Millinneiummon, had sent an army of Chaosdramon X to the Human World. It was no coincident, but how were the two related?

"Maybe you should take a look on it." Said Irene as she took of the bangle and passed it to Kynan.

"I can't say much about this." The boy replied. "I've never really seen things like this." He put the bangle right in front of his eyes and examined it closely, but could find no hints or whatever that made it do whatever it had done before. "Why should I examine it anyway?"

"I thought you knows the most." Said Elsa. Kynan gave her an annoyed glare and passed the bangle to her.

"Alright, I'll do it." the blonde girl muttered as she received it. The first thing she noticed was the smoothness of it; it felt like a newly made jewel, despite the fact that it should have been passed down throughout generations. She examined it just as carefully and closely as Kynan had done, and then put it back on the ground, sighing. "Nothing."

"Maybe I should take a look." Said Valkyrimon as she took up the relic. The other Digimon joined too, looking for details but could find nothing.

"Maybe it really was just a dream." LadyDevimon uttered. "No offense."

"Well, offensive or not, I trust her." Said Kaito. The ultimate gave him an irritated glare and tossed the bangle to him, which he caught skillfully midair so it wouldn't be scratched.

The moment he touched it, however, he felt a surge of energy running out from it, making his heart beat faster and somehow quickening his breathing. The uneasiness caused him to lean back a little before he lost balance and fell straight at Katahsi. The next thing he knew, he was in a much darker place with stuffy air and absolute silence. Getting up he could see Katashi behind him, with nobody else.

"Where's this place?" The brown-haired boy uttered, scanning around. They were in some sort of a dark chamber, so dark that he couldn't even make out the ceiling.

"So that was no dream at all." Kaito said, equally stunned. His voice echoed, making the already seemingly large room seem even larger.

"I don't really mean it, but this place is starting to seem creepy." Said Katashi as he took out his Digivice and used the screen's light to illuminate his path. "Where's everybody else?"

"I think it's just the two of us here." Kaito muttered. He took a look at his hands. The bangle was still there, except that it was now glowing slightly. "Could it really be…"

"That's pretty obvious to me." Said Katashi as he took over the bangle. Its glow immediately weakened once it left Kaito's hand. "This thing really got us here, but how?"

"I'm not supposed to know that." Said Kaito. He got the bangle back, and instantly it glowed again. This time, probably due to the dark surrounding, it appeared clear that an aura of whiteness was there coming out of the bangle and enveloping the white-haired boy. Afraid that anything should happen, Katashi walked forth to him and grabbed him by the shoulder once the aura started to intensify. The next thing he knew, he was on the small house again, with all others looking at them, astonished.

"Where have you two been?" Elsa demanded immediately following their return. "You just vanished!"

"I don't know." Katashi replied. "But obviously it had something to do with Kaito."

"Me?" Kaito had just gotten up top his knees.

"There's obviously something going on once you touched the bangle." The brown-haired boy said. "Maybe that's why we're gone a moment before."

"But why would it work only with you?" Irene said as Kaito handed the bangle back to the girl.

"I think I might know a little about it." said Katashi. "You're thinking about the same thing, aren't you?" he turned to Liollmon.

"Me?" the Rookie replied, a bit off guard. "What'd you mean?"

"I think I know the differences between us and them."

"What're you talking about?" Kynan asked.

"Don't you two remember?" Katashi proceeded to ask the twins. "The first time we met."

"What are you suggesting?" Rikuto said, a bit irritated. "We were in that temple just because we…"

"That's what I'm talking about." Katashi sounded exciting. At the same time, he received more than a dozen of inquisitive looks. "You're Digi-Destiend."

"Aren't that what you're all calling yourselves?" Said Irene. "Kaito told me that."

"That's just a conventional name we use, but we're not all Destined here." Said the brown-haired boy. "Elsa,. You partnered with LadyDevimon last year after she had been defeated. Kynan, you met Kudamon out in the wilderness. And Ren, you partnered with Valkyrimon during your time at the Institute, right?"

They all nodded.

"And I became friends with Liollmon when his previous incarnation died and returned into a Digi-egg."

"So you're saying that more than half of us here are just normal people?" Valkyrimon muttered.

Katashi nodded and continued. "Only you two were there at the Temple, and only you two were able to made a specific Digi-egg hatch." He cleared his throat. "That qualifies as Digi-Destined to me/"

"So you're suggesting that we've some kind of superpowers that you don't have?" Rikuto questioned, to which Katashi nodded in response.  
"Maybe you should try to touch that bangle as well." Irene said. "That way we can know if your friend is making sense or not."

"That's a bit blunt, considering that it's the first time we meet." Katashi mumbled lightly. Nobody cared about him, so he was glad.

"You should just try it." Ren told Rikuto. "If that's true, our job will be done in no time."

"Alright, I'll give it a shot." The white-haired boy answered reluctantly. As his hand was approaching the bangle, however, a bang sounded outside of the house, followed by quakes.

* * *

"Why can't we see him?" Yuzuki was about to lose her patience. She had come to Smith with Kaoru, demanding that they needed to extract information from Cyberdramon about Kaoru's condition, but there hadn't been any reply yet as they got into the building where Smith worked. Frustrated, the two got to smith's office without permission and confronted the man themselves. Still, they couldn't get access to the Digimon.

"For a lot of reasons, the most prominent one being the concern of your safety." Smith had said.

"I just blacked out for no reason, had numerous headaches and most importantly, was brought back to life when I should've been dead. I don't think there's anything that can give us protection anymore." Said Kaoru vigorously, unlike the emotionless speech he commonly used.

"There are protocols that have to be complied."

"Didn't you set up those?" questioned Jesmon. "You can simply give us permission. Besides, I think we're well protected as long as I am with them."

Smith remained at his seat as he had always been. There was a moment of silence, but it didn't last long. "No." that's all he said.

"You can't just keep saying that and expect us to go!" Yuzuki almost yelled. "We're only asking out of respect."

"So you would get into a restricted area on your own?"

"Just let us go." Said Kaoru, annoyed. "Please."

Smith still wouldn't give in.

But he didn't have to anymore. Just a few seconds later, every monitor in the room malfunctioned and failed to show anything aside from those weird gray striations that covered the entire screen. And then, a moment later, all monitors showed the same image –Cyberdramon's face.

* * *

 **Really sorry for the little that liked this story. I have not been able to keep up the progress of one update per week, and I probably won't be able to do that in the near future so I'll have to change it into an update every two weeks. Hopefully that'll work out better for me since I'm kind of busy lately.**


	30. The choice

-The choice-

Whatever caused the noise, it was nothing good to be expected. The Destined knew that all too well.

What they didn't know, however, was the cause of that noise. Rushing out of Irene's house the first thing they noticed was the sudden darkening of the atmosphere as though night had just fallen, though a moment ago the sun was still shining so brightly that some of them complained about being cooked alive.

The darkening made the thing that appeared next much more observable. Not too far away, there was a strange illumination that left the village covered in a light shade of purple. The light suddenly didn't feel so strange anymore. The Destined had grown used to it.

"What's he trying to do this time?" Katashi complained at the first sight of the light -the indicator that a Gate had just been opened. Needless to say, it was another doing of Cyberdramon.

"We'll go ahead and check things out." Said Green as he flew away readily as his brother followed.

"What's happening?" said Irene, leaning close to Kaito.

 _That's right. She never experienced anything like this one._ The white-haired boy thought. Though Irene had seemed tough sometimes, it was only natural that she feared something she hadn't seen before. Reflexively Kaito placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and pulled her closer. "It's alright." He said. "It'll be fine."

"Let's just hope it ends soon." Said Liollmon. "What more could he do, after all this?"

"You shouldn't underestimate your enemy." Said Kynan. "Especially when he's sort of insane."

"Insane or not," muttered Katashi, "we'll take him down, once and for all."

The Dracomon came back within seconds, both seeming exhausted and impatient and very apparently frightened. They coughed a little as they landed and needed to rest a second or two before they could say anything.

"What's wrong?" Rikuto asked.

"Th...there's something terrible waiting out there." Said Blue, still trying to catch his breath.

"What?"

"W...we just saw an entire army getting out of the Gate and coming here."

* * *

Kaoru wasn't sure how he should feel right now. There had been more than enough trouble just trying to get back to his normal life and now, the one responsible for him being alive was out there once again, plotting who-knew-what. As far as the boy was concerned, nothing good could come out of it.

"He took over the channels." Muttered Smith.

"And wasn't him supposed to be held in maximum security?" demanded Yuzuki. "Don't tell me you've lost him already when we came here."

Smith said nothing, which was more than enough to Yuzuki. "That's why you wouldn't let us see him, because you lost him!"

"We had the situation under control." The man replied.

"I don't think this is called 'under control'" Kaoru muttered before Cyberdramon began speaking to the entire city.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I supposed this is what I should say." Cyberdramon began, his already disturbing voice muffed by the radio-like noise. "There is something that I should let you all know before I make next step in my plan. Something fun."

"Where's he now?" Jesmon asked impatiently. "Maybe I can get him."

"That'd be the communication center." Said Smith. "At the other end of this building, top floor."

The Mega immediately set off, his partner following her.

"Stay here." Yuzuki told Kaoru. "It should be safe here."

"But..." Kaoru started, though she had already gone.

Cyberdramon was not done talking. "As a thought-provoking game, I designed this situation so that we can all be a part of something big." Suddenly the Digimon disappeared from sight, and the screens had been replaced by what appeared to be a gently colored country side painting, only it wasn't a painting at all. The image showed a seemingly peaceful little village with sand-covered ground and short, wooden buildings that could hold not more than a dozen families.

"This is a place outside your city." Cyberdramon continued. "And a dangerous place, in fact, since it holds something that we have all forgotten for quite a long time." The screen blurred and Cyberdramon's face appeared again. "If any of you paid attention during history lessons, you'd know that there's been a war quite some centuries ago, and you'd probably know what exactly brought it to a stop."

Kaoru watched with growing impatience and anxiety. Somehow he thought he knew what Cyberdramon was plotting. _Be quick, Yuzuki._

"The famous virus that ended the war has long been destroyed, as your textbooks would tell you. But in fact, it is still hiding out there, somewhere out of your reach. This village." The screen showed the village once again, and this time, it showed the Destined waiting anxiously at about the boundary of the village with their Digimon partners ready for fight.

"Your leaders, without your knowing, has been plotting to claim it back, somehow." Cyberdramon's voice sounded digital. "And so our little test begins."

* * *

When they reached the top floor, Jesmon immediately rushed towards one of the only two rooms on that floor, slamming the door open. To his disappointment, no body was there in the first room, not even any staff. He had expected that somehow, though.

That left him only the other room. Yuzuki had already gotten there and had opened the door so that her partner didn't need to force it to open. It was, as the first room, as empty as any room could be. There was nothing at all, not even the basic appliances that would make it a communication center. It looked almost like a residential housing whose owner had just moved away. The walls were perfectly white and clean and could be seen easily duel to the lack of everything there.

Frustrated, Yuzuki headed back to the first room. It was certain that the communication center was that room, since the appliances were seen there. However, there was absolutely no trace of Cyberdramon at all.

"Where's he?" the girl uttered impatiently.

"Not here." her partner replied. "We need to go search somewhere else."

"But he should be here. How could he be controlling all the communication without being here?"

 _I don't know any better_. Thought the Mega. But then something got his attention. To his left, hidden in a shaded corner, he found out one working computer with its screen glowing faintly. Yuzuki got there and checked it out, and found a video record that looked identical to what Cyberdramon had just done.

"It's just a recording." she rushed out of the room immediately.

"Where are we going, then?"

"I don't know." said the girl. "I just think that I shouldn't have left Kaoru alone. Cyberdramon seemed to have something to do with him."

* * *

Intentional or not, Cyberdramon's broadcasting reached even the Digivices of the Destined, who, at the moment, were still busy trying to get a hang of the situation. A bunch of Centarumon had just come out of nowhere and according to what Katashi knew, Centarumon were mostly peace keepers back home, which made them on their side.

But they seemed completely hostile at the moment.

"Someone just tell me what's going on here," Elsa complained. "I feel like we've gone all this way for nothing."

Katashi gave her a hush and whispered. "Stop talking, and keep watching."

Though they were so far away from the city, the quality of the broadcast didn't seem any weaker.

Cyberdramon got straight to the point. "There is something I need you to do. I need you to make a choice for me. As of now, there is a bomb -or numerous bombs, I don't really remember -planted at your precious city. On the outside, however, there is an access to the virus, and a team of Digimon, elite ones, from your city, at that village. Now, if I don't get to access the virus in twenty four hours, the bomb will go off." He giggled a little, which sounded like nothing but creepy. "Or you can save yourselves the trouble. A call from your leader can make me stop the bombs, but with a place. The village will be destroyed instead, and with it the access to the virus, so I'm actually quite generous here. If you really choose the latter, even I can't complain about not getting the access."

Katashi wanted to toss his Digivice hard on the ground and see the face of Cyberdramon crackle along with the screen, but managed to get a hold of himself.

"That son of a bitch." He almost swore -something he didn't really like to do.

"So what do we do now?" Kynan muttered. "Get ready for the fight?"

"What fight?" Liollmon demanded.

"The army out there." Said Kudamon. "It's very likely that we'll have to fight them."

"I trust Smith. He wouldn't give an order like that." Katahsi said. "However I dislike him, he wouldn't give an order for mass murder."

"We don't know that." Kynan said coldly, as if he had never joined the team at all and was still the boy from the outside world, distancing himself from others. "We need to be prepared."

"He won't! I swear!" Katashi almost yelled, though he couldn't think of a reason to justify that. In a situation like that, what Kynan had just said sounded the most reasonable. But that didn't make it any better. He believed in Smith, and the old team that would stop him from giving such orders.

"Stop it, you two!" a female voice came. Irene's.

Everybody stopped and turned to her.

"Is it that, if I give up the bangle and give it to him, both of us can be saved?"

"You can't do that." Kaito said instantly. "That's too dangerous and, doesn't it matter to you? The bangle, it's something passed down to you from you family."

"Still just a piece of accessory." The girl answered. "And if it can save the most, I'm ready to give it up."

"But..."

"He can't use it anyway, can he?" Irene took it off her wrist and started dusting it. "You're the only ones that could use it, right?" She gave it to Katashi, who took it reluctantly.

"There's got to be another way." Said the brown-haired boy. "I have the feeling that Cyberdrmaon can use it as well, with his insane science and everything. The world -both worlds will be over if he gets his hand on it."

"Maybe we should give it to him, after all." Blue suggested. "We can beat him once he'd gotten his hands on it, right?"

"It won't be an easy fight." LadyDevimon muttered.

"But that's better than risking the village or our home!" The Dracomon replied quite vehemently. "I've grown kind of fond to here, though Kai was always busy staying with Irene."

"We find him and then beat him, and the world is safe forever." Green added. "I don't want to see this place covered in fire and dust."

The situation, however, wasn't letting them have any chance for discussion. Just when they had started the discussion, another broadcasting from Cyberdramon came.

"Did I say you had twenty four hours? I'm sorry I made that terrible a mistake. You have actually only five hours. Enjoy the wait!"

* * *

"You won't do it, would you?" Kaoru asked Smith.

"Do what?"

"Burn down the village." The blonde boy said quietly. "You wouldn't do anything that terrible, right?"

Smith did not answer.

"So you're still deciding."

"I have to consider the lives of millions here as well." Said the man, his mostly dark red eyes seemed to be glowing right now.

"Yuzuki will find and take down Cyberdramon, and then he won't be able to do a thing."

Then the most undesirable voice came. "Who are you talking about, boy?"

Kaoru didn't need to turn to know that it was Cyberdramon. He could easily guess that Cyberdramon had come to him again, like the last time. Only that, this time, there was no one around to protect him, and he knew that, though reluctant, he had to confront him sooner or later. He gestured for Smith to leave, and Cyberdramon didn't stop him. Now, there were only the two, face to face.

"What do want from me now?" Kaoru demanded. "Haven't you caused enough trouble?"

"That's not a nice way to talk to the one who brought you back to life." The Digimon replied. "As I have done before, I came here to check your progress."

"Progress of what?"

"Oh, come on! You don't really think that I would just save you without a reason, do you? There's always more than that."

"So the whole bomb thing." Kaoru started. "It's just to create a diversion and let us have a talk in private?"

"Of course not." Said Cyberdramon quite proudly. "I'm just making use of the spare time."

"Then what is it that you want from me?" Kaoru yelled. "Haven't you screwed my life up enough?" He could sense himself shivering. Somehow, he was afraid of what Cyberdramon would say next, since it wouldn't be anything nice and most probably would turn his life upside down again. Though unwilling, he had to admit that he was scared of Cyberdramon now.

It seemed that Cyberdramon had noticed his shivering as well. "You know why I came to you, don't you?"

"I don't know anything you'd want."

"But then, why would you be so afraid?" Said Cyberdramon. "Because you have already had the idea of what's going on, and you don't want me to confirm it."

Kaoru tried not to think about it, but couldn't. Ever since the last time he had fainted suddenly, he had quite figured out what's wrong with him. He could still imagine the large and sparkling eye of Millenniummon and the time when he had recalled the whole scene of his supposed death. Just thinking about made his heart pump faster than ever, and he lost strength to even stand, dropping to his knees. "Millenniummon. There's something to do with him, isn't there?" he whispered.

"So you know." Said Cyberdramon. "And now you know why I would just bring a human back to life without much of a reason."

"You never intended to save me." Kaoru whispered, so that even Cyberdramon could hardly make out what he was saying. "A part of Millenniummon is inside me."

"Finally!" Cyberdramon uttered in a scream and than laughed maniacally. That's when the door got kicked open and Jesmon rushed into the room with both his blades ready as he dashed towards Cyberdramon. Just before he could hit him, however, Cyberdramon had already opened up another Gate and transported himself to who-knew-where, leaving a spiritless Kaoru behind.

"What happened here? Are you hurt?" Yuzuki rushed straight to Kaoru, who didn't answer or even look at her.

"What's wrong?" The girl asked again. Kaoru shook his head and avoided eye contact with her, muttering words she couldn't hear.

"Tell me, what's going on!"

"I...I don't think I should be with you." The boy said finally. "Because...I'm a danger to you."

"What're you talking about?"

"There's a part of me that doesn't belong to me. There's a part of Millenniummon. I don't know how, but I can't stay with anyone anymore if..." A drop of tear ran down his cheek and he couldn't speak anymore.

"We'll figure a way out about that." Said Yuzuki, though she was equally stunned. "You don't have to be afraid." She reached out a hand to Kaoru, but he shove her off.

"Leave me alone." The boy said weakly. "I don't even know what I might do."

"We're not leaving you." Said Yuzuki, though there wasn't any determination in her voice. She grabbed Kaoru by his arm and forced him to get up. "Like I said before, you don't have to deal with things alone."

* * *

The most torturing hours passed, bringing only more anxiety to the group.

"Maybe we should evacuate the village first." Said Ren finally after a few moments of silence. "That way, even if they don't want us saved, we can be prepared."

"Evacuate, to where?" Irene said softly. "To the people here, the village means their lives. There's no other place to live around here, too."

"And even if you did evacuate, I'm afraid they wouldn't let you." Said Kynan, eyeing at the troops of Centarumon out there.

"But shouldn't they supposed to be on our side?" Katashi asked.

"They wouldn't be here if they were." Liollmon suggested. "I think they're somehow under Cyberdramon's control."

"So what you're saying is that we should just sit here and wait?" Kaito uttered in an irritated voice. "What if you're wrong?"

"You two should stop arguing." Said Ren, pulling aside Katashi and Kaito. "It'll only make things worse."

"But we can't just wait." The white-haired boy muttered.

"No we can't." Said Kudamon. 'I have the feeling that they're going to attack us no matter what. So we should be getting ready right now."

"What do you mean?" Irene asked.

The Rookie replied coldly. "In case anything happens, we'll be here to protect your village."

All the others nodded.

* * *

The few hours passed swiftly and unnoticeably. When Kaoru and Yuzuki got to see Smith again, it was almost the deadline. One choice of his would determine which place out of the two would be blown into pieces, and there didn't seem to have any way to protect both places.

To be honest, neither option sounded appealing. That's why Jesmon had scouted around to see if there's any trace of Cyberdramon in the hopes of defeating him and thus making everything right again. Unfortunately there was no way to find him. The Digimon knew too well how to hide himself from anyone. They were left with no choice.

"I have to choice the option that saves the most." That's what Smith had said to answer Yuzuki's question. From then on, he had been completely silent and had had the three of them removed from his office so that they could now only wait outside and see what choice would be taken.

"Please don't take that village apart," Yuzuki whispered silently.

Kaoru, standing close to her, asked why. Though he, too, couldn't bear seeing people's lives being taken away by someone who had no authority to do that. There never was someone who had the right to do that. But saving more seemed a bit, just a little bit, more sensible at the situation.

"When Yuzuki and I got to the broadcasting room, we found out that Cyberdramon was only playing a recording." Jesmon explained. "We took a look at it. And, from some part that wasn't shown to the public, we saw…"

"Katashi." Yuzuki finished the sentence. "And his friends. They're over there. We can't just abandon them."

"Katashi…" Kaoru tried to recall his memories. "Why would they be there?"

"It's natural that you didn't know it." Said the black-haired girl. "When they set off, you were still in Cyberdramon's control, or in the hospital waiting to regain consciousness. And I didn't tell you about it because I didn't want you to worry about them." A tiny drop of tear of guilt went down her cheek. "I'm sorry."

"But then," He said, not knowing which word to use. "What can we do about it?"

"That's the worst part." Jesmon gave the answer. "We can't do anything at all. It's all up to them now."

* * *

Katashi didn't want to believe this.

The time given to them had already been up, and they had come into an agreement that they would never risk letting Cyberdramon get his hands on the virus, wherever that was. The group could only hope that whoever was in the city could be smart enough to find and disarm Cyberdramon's bombs, though there was the possibility that there were no bombs at all. But given the army of Centarumon waiting outside, it seemed that Cyberdramon meant every word he had said.

And the worst part was that, one of the Centarumon had started moving. There was only one at first, but then the entire squad started systematically move as well, their machinegun-like arms pointing forward as they marched towards the village.

The first thing Katashi could think of and say was "Get everyone inside their houses!"

And then the attack began officially. There was no mistaking, for the Centarumon had started firing randomly at whatever them saw. The noise made by their guns thundered around and covered up whatever noise, screams or cries, the people there could make.

"Blaze Sonic Breath!" Wingdramon shouted as he glided across the sky and sprayed fire on the village, successfully driving one of the many Centarumon back. But that was far from enough.

"How many are there?" GrapLeomon asked as he took two Centarumon down with his arms and punched one of them unconscious before tossing it aside. When he looked back, new ones had already taken the place of the fallen. Despite having the advantage of being a higher class Digimon, he could hardly manage that all.

In the chaos, there was not much to see. Wooden plates burnt and flew across the sky, noises everywhere as if the fighting wasn't already deafening enough. Those were common in battles, but not for the villagers. Irene was among them.

"Stay back!" Kaito shouted as he noticed Irene coming out of her building, immediately rushing to her and pulled her indoors again. "It's dangerous out there!"

"This is _my_ home that they're destroying!" The girl shouted, but in the battle, her voice was hardly audible. "You expect me to just stay here and do nothing about it?"

"It's better than losing your life!" the white-haired boy said. "At least it's safer inside. It's not the time to get out, not now." But that did little to prevent her from getting out. Once out there, they were just in time to see a flaming wooden plate flying straight at them. Before it could hit them, however, Blue managed to get there first and used his torso to shield Kaito.

"Be careful here." He said.

The other side of the battle was just as bad. LadyDevimon kept herself at the edge of the village and had lured as much Centarumon to her as possible so that she could effortlessly shove them out of the village with whatever means. The mean concern was that it wasn't working at all. The Centarumon, though silent verbally, seemed to have some sort of plan in mind, and there were on;y a few of them who would let LadyDevimon fight them. It ended up that she had to rush towards the center of the village to join the battle.

"Behind you!" A voice shouted and the Ultimate immediately turned, using her claw-like fingers to slash a Centarumon and took it down in one hit as the Champion turned into glowing bits of data and eventually a Digi-egg.

"I could handle that on my own." LadyDevimon told GrapLeomon. "Mind your own business."

Just as he had finished the conversation, two more Centarumon appeared next to GrapLeomon and instantly he had to take a few steps back just to avoid being slammed before he could fight them properly. He could hardly think of any plans of attack, and just ended up punching each one that came close to him. Next to him, Green was making the earth shake using whatever he was capable of and knocked a few Centarumon off balance while Blue soared through the sky and sprayed flame at the Centarumon, effectively reducing their number. Nearby Valkyrimon was taking down quite a number of Centarumon, knocking each one down with a slash of her sword; Chirinmon toyed with the Centarumon with his speed and took care of his part effortlessly.

The number of Centarumon dropped greatly, and the chaos had been lessened. There were still fights, but that was manageable. In the midst of the battle, Irene, who had come out of her own house saw the devastation the battle had left on her home. Everything in her life had now become nothing but ashes and rubbles. She weakly tilted to Kaito, who had been standing next to her, and dropped. Kaito quickly caught her and hugged her, who was crying now. The remaining enemies had been forgotten.

"It's all right. We'll help you rebuild your home." He whispered, though it seemed that she was too devastated to listen, so he didn't say anything else, just letting her rest her head on his chest.

And then, in just a millisecond, a loud, alerting and horrible noise sounded, right next to Kaito. When the white-haired boy looked at Irene again, he could only felt the warmth from her back and couldn't help but feel that her back was unnaturally wet. Then, he took one hand of, and found it covered in crimson.


	31. Parting ways

-Parting ways-

It seemed to Kaito that time itself had stopped moving and that the moment had been lasting for more than several hours. He took a look at his shaking hands for another time, and he still couldn't believe that the red staining his gloves was fading into dark brown solids. He refused to believe that Irene, being held in his arms, had had her eyes closed and stopped responding to anything.

"Irene!" He shouted and shouted, the battle already forgotten. But there was no response.

"Watch out!" Someone yelled at him and then all he could hear was a big bang that almost deafened him. That was a Digimon on their side, no doubt, but he paid no attention as to what's happening around him. The next moment, he felt someone grabbing him by his shoulders and started to drag him away from harm. He reluctantly followed, but didn't let go of Irene.

"Be careful!" It was Katashi's voice. Another bang sounded, and he felt nothing at all. He slowly and weakly turned to see the brown-haired boy, and saw him keeping his eyes on the battlefield and looking back at him every once in a while.

"You okay?" Katashi asked, and Kaito didn't answer.

"What's happened to her?" Apparently Katashi had not noticed the collapsed Irene until the moment. He could only see Kaito holding her tight. Somewhere deep inside, he knew that the worst thing he could ever imagine had just occurred. Seeing Kaito weeping subtly and not taking care of the world around him, he decided to just drag him somewhere safe and get him out of the crossfire while he charged back to the battlefield. His friends needed him.

Just as he got there, GrapLeomon had stumbled a few steps back and noticed that his partner had returned. In front of the Ultimate was another Centarumon, which was quickly defeated by a punch of GrapLeomon.

The battle didn't last long. In just about ten minutes, they had driven the remaining Centarumon out while those that fought in the battle had all been neutralized and turned into Digi-eggs, no longer posing harm to the village. The village was now in a completely different state, having been torn aprt in the crossfire. Most of the houses had their walls cracked and their roof removed while others had been torn into pieces and shattered all over the sandy ground. There were not too many casualties, but that wasn't enough to make the Destined rejoice.

"I'm sorry about what happened." Said Katashi as he approached Kaito, who was still sitting on the ground doing nothing but staring at the lifeless body of Irene. He seemed totally frozen.

Kaito, of course, didn't respond.

"You all right?" Rikuto got close to him and said, placing a hand on his shoulders. Kaito just shook his head a little and said nothing. Nobody really dared talk to him at the moment, and decided that he needed a little time alone to deal with the lost of a friend, so they walked away and started helping the villagers rebuild the village, only that they weren't particularly welcome there.

* * *

"For years we've been living in peace and quiet. Then you came, and everything just went wrong!"

"It's all your fault!"

"Just go back home already!"

Countless blames and cold, harsh words came, and they accepted them all. They were right, to a certain degree. It had seemed that wherever they went, death and destruction followed. Now the Destined had officially become one of the most undesired persons on earth, and they didn't do much to object, since them, too, blamed themselves as well.

"But how do we get out of here?" GrapLeomon asked as they started discussing things from then on. "We can't just walk our way back, can we?"

"And the device that we got from Cyberdramon seemed to be malfunctioning." Kynan added. He sighed a little and turned his head away from the others. It was the first time they saw him sigh.

"What's wrong?" Valkyrimon asked.

"Nothing." The black-haired boy replied. "It's just that…the village right now, it makes me remember my home."

And they stopped asking. Though he had been acting tough throughout the whole journey, it was still a fact to remember that Kynan, like the villager, had lost his home during a Digimon attack. It would make sense that another desolated village would bring back the memories.

"You sure you don't need support?" Elsa asked him quietly. He shook his head. "Alright then." She said. "Pretty sure you can count on yourself."

* * *

Kaito didn't ask for anyone's permission when he carried Irene outside the village. Taking her makes him feel heavy, but his heart had already added a lot of weight to him, so he didn't mind a little physical exhaustion. In just a few minutes he had arrived at the fresh water stream, the one that Irene had shown him during his time in the village. It was as quiet and vibrant as the last time he had been there, and pretty much nothing had changed, expect that he was all alone by himself now.

 _I'm so sorry I couldn't save you_. He thought as he placed her body near the stream. Another drop of tear ran down his face. Looking at the clear and rushing stream made him remember his time there in the village spent with Irene. He still didn't want to believe that she had gone.

He dropped to his knees, knelling before Irene's motionless body. It was too much to take within that small time.

 _It_ _'_ _s all his fault._ An idea came from nowhere into his head. _Smith_ _…_ _he chose to let us die. It_ _'_ _s him that things ended up like this._ And in that moment, his grief had turned into anger. There was no way he could calm himself now, and he didn't even intend to do that. With all the frustration he had inside, he punched the ground as hardly as he could, even if that meant damaging his very own hands. There was now only one goal he could focus on.

* * *

"Where've you been?" Rikuto asked his brother softly as he saw him coming back in the village. "You had us worried." The Dracomon immediately rushed forward for their more-than-friends partner.

"I'm fine." Kaito answered softly.

"And the girl?"

"I…" Kaito's voice started to distort a little. "I got her to the place she liked most." He hid his hands behind his torso, not willing to let the others see what he was holding. It was Irene's bangle; he had taken it off as a kind of memory left of her. It didn't behave like the time it had done, and so it didn't take Kaito to somewhere strange. It was probably because he was wearing his gloves.

The others arrived. They all looked worried, and tried to ease the atmosphere, but to no avail. They had given up quite early, and had, instead, been discussing about a way back.

"I don't think this thing can still work." Katashi took out the teleportation device that had sent them there. It had long been damaged, but it still somehow showed signs that suggested it was still working, most prominently the little flashes that kept beeping.

"How does this thing even work anyway?" Elsa said.

"Right, we didn't really make it work the last time." Liollmon muttered. "And the only one who knows how to operate it is no where close to us at all."

"Please don't even mention the idea that we're trapped here for good." Ren added. "It makes me feel less motivated."

"But that's something we've to work out eventually, isn't it?" Kynan suggested. Apparently he was the only one who remembered anything about the magical bangle and who to make it work, and it was more than obvious that he was the only one dare mention about it while Kaito was still in depression. "How about the bangle that carried you somewhere before?"

Kaito said nothing, but took his hand out reluctantly, and revealed the bangle that he had taken from Irene. He was still looking down, with his face being more blank and emotionless than sad. Kynan took it and started examine it, including passing it to Rikuto, the only other they had suspected to be able to make the bangle work, The white-haired boy, however, refused to do so.

"I think we shouldn't rush things for now." He explained. _Not when Kai_ _'_ _s like this._

* * *

Nothing seemed to have changed even after all that Cyberdramon had done. No one still possessed the virus that had started all that, and there had been nothing but death that followed their path. And, since all that had happened, there hadn't even been a single major issue that would rock the world.

"Shouldn't it be nice, having nothing to worry about?" That's what Yuzuki told Kaoru.

"I'm fine." He answered. "I just don't know what might happen to me next time." He walked away as he finished. It didn't take a genius to notice that he had been acting strange and distancing himself from the others after that conversation with Cyberdramon.

Yuzuki didn't know what to do. Even if she knew, there wouldn't be a chance that she could do anything. The only thing she knew to do was to be by Kaoru's side, supporting him. But now, even that seemed useless. Despite knowing what Cyberdramon had been planning with Kaoru, she wanted to help him, and she never hesitated. Yet, what could she do when Kaoru was keeping his distance from others?

* * *

"I think I can get it to work." Said Katashi after almost an hour of examining the teleportation device. He had to admit that the tiny little device had taken him more than enough time to understand the working principal. How he wanted Takumi would be there with them; he could have saved them all the trouble.

Still, since he's not there, there was no need to be depress due to that. The group was now facing one of its most shattered state, with everyone not knowing what to do or what not to do. It would seem that he was the only one trying to work on a solution.

"You can?" Ren's voice came from behind him, making him shiver a little before turning to see the girl.

"I think I can, but maybe I'm wrong." Katashi replied. "I'm really not good with machines, except that this one doesn't seem to be too damaged."  
He clicked a few buttons on the device and watched the lights on it glow faintly. "It seems possible to use it."

Ren smiled and said lightly. "Sorry I can't be of much help now."

"You can be with the others." The boy replied. "Have a little chat or something like that. It can help ease the tension, I think."

Ren looked at the others, mainly at Rikuto, and said. "I don't think I'm the one people want to talk to right now."

"Really? What about RIkuto? You two seemed to get along well."

"Apparently he has something more important than me right now." She said, winking at the white-haired boy, who didn't even seem to notice her existence. He was just there sitting with his brother, doing almost nothing.

"Well then, you can get something to do yourself." Said Katashi. "I'll let you know once I've finished my work here."

* * *

Two hours had passed before Katashi finally announce that he had somehow fixed the device. There were questions, no doubt, and he tried as much as he could not to answer them at all. Right now, he was only hoping that they could finally have a moment of relief, though given what had happened, it was a bit close to impossible for anyone to feel anything positive soon.

"I don't really care right now." He said to the others. "We have to get home first, don't we?"

"And you think that's gonna get the job done?" It was Elsa again. Questioning about almost everything was one of her most prominent trait, though in times like this, it actually helped, somehow.

"We won't know it until we tried." The boy answered. "And, we don't really have any other ways."

* * *

He took another half-hour to convince the others to believe in him. Once he had gathered the entire team at the gate of the village, he immediately took out the device and started clicking various things on it. The more he clicked, the more his teammates feared that he wasn't actually capable of bringing them home. But that was soon settled, since they had all agreed on the plan, making it nonsense to quit eright now.

In just a few seconds, before any of his teammates could even question the feasibility of his method, a strong gale blew and sent the time almost flying away had they not stabilized their footing when the gale had just been a gentle breeze. The next moment, the empty space between the team, who had gathered in a circular formation, started glowing bright purple, just like how every other Gate had been opened by Cyberdramon.

"I can honestly say that I'm amazed." Valkyrimon commented,

"Except," Said Elsa. "Do you really know where this will take us?"

"I have faith in myself." Replied Katashi, "And you did, too, when you agreed to try."

Elsa sighed. "I have no idea why I would do that."

"Let's just get going." Kynan said.

Then, one by one, the Destined started stepping into the Gate. As doubtful as they were, they went unhesitant. First Kynan and Kudamon, then Elsa and her partner, and then…

"Why aren't you going?" Katashi asked as he saw Kaito hesitate and step back away from the Gate. The white-haired boy shook his head, but didn't answer the question. The Dracomon by his side seemed to have the same feeling as he did, as they were seen hovering around him speechlessly.

"I don't think I should go." Kaito said eventually. "I…I think I'm not ready."

"Ready for what?"

"I don't think I can go on with you guys anymore." He mumbled so lightly that it was hardly audible.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Said Katashi. "We can't just leave you here. Who knows if there'd be another way to get home if we don't go now?"

"Right…" Kaito answered as quietly as he had been previously. He didn't say a word after that, and walked into the Gate spiritlessly. The others followed.

* * *

Things didn't go anywhere better even though they had successfully returned. The large amount of buildings and the atmosphere there seemed to have changed somehow, though it was just due to the unfamiliarity that the journey had brought the Destined.

It was already midnight when Katashi got back to his home. They had spent little time parting with one another when they had gone back to the city, and it had seemed that none of them cared enough of this. So, he had gotten home right away.

"Hi." Switching on his phone, he called the only one on his mind at once –Yuzuki. Though she was now in another district, probably having some good time with her newly revived boyfriend, she was the only one he could think of at the moment. And, their relationship wasn't really that complicated, at least that's what he believed. Calling for a friend didn't really need a reason.

"Hi." He could hear her voice, and the surprise and astonishment in it. "I thought you were…"

"Yeah, we didn't really announce that we're home publicly, but that doesn't really matter now, does it?" The brown-haired boy said. "There's just something happened that I wanted to share with you."

"Something important?" she sounded a bit unsure, as if she didn't even know why she was talking.

Katashi noticed that. "Something bothering you?"

"Just something minor."

"You don't sound like you're not troubled."

"Well, something happened while you're gone, something bad."

"Is it about the crazy show that Cyberdramon had put up?" Katashi asked. "I knew that, too, though I wasn't' there."

"I can say the two are related." Yuzuki answered. "But what I'm having trouble with, it's nothing you should get involved in."

"I've already gotten involved in things like this the first time I met Liollmon a year ago, so I have confident that I can handle your problem."

He heard her sigh for a long while, probably for five seconds or more. Then, when she was ready, she told him everything about the conversation Kaoru had had when confronted by Cyberdramon. She said it clearly and made it as simple as possible. "And now, he's distancing from me –from everyone –again. He hadn't even come home after that day, and I have no idea where he went."

Katashi could be quite sure that she was trying hard not letting her voice be muffed by weeps, but she was clearly weeping, even though he couldn't see her face.

"That's," Katashi started. He regretted a little that he had spoken before any ideas could take form in his mind. "I'm sure we will figure a way out."

"It seems impossible."

Before Katashi could say another word again, a loud bang deafened him and caught all of his attention that he had forgotten his phone was still connected to Yuzuki's. "What happened?" He could hear her faint voice. And then, as he started to look out of the window, he saw the boringly black sky being ignited with a small trace of acrid smoke and flashes of orange.

"I think someone just made an explosion." He picked up his phone, which had slid off his hands earlier. "And I think I should be getting going."

"But you just came back. Shouldn't you take a little rest first?"

"I can do that later. Right now, I need to know what happened and, if there're any victims, get them safe to another place." He didn't even wait for Yuzuki to reply as he rushed out of the door, only returning a second later.

"Liollmon!" he shouted to his room, and the Rookie came staggering out lazily. "We've got a situation."

"Can't I at least rest for just a bit?" The Rookie complained, but didn't really protest anything as he picked up pace and followed Katahsi, who had already gotten outdoor and was waiting impatiently.

* * *

Having gone through almost everything he could imagine in the Digital World, it came to be a little surprise that the big bang not long ago wasn't accompanied by some sort of weird Digimon and, there wasn't the common fire that took place along with any form of explosion.

"I can't see a thing." One thing Liollmon wasn't used to was observing his surroundings in dark. The starless night made him feel like it had no difference whether he was closing his eyes or not.

"Maybe I can give you directions, but you'll have to be fast enough." Katashi reassured him, though he, too wasn't particularly good at night vision. Looking around he could find nothing but a faint glow that might suggest the origin of the explosion. _So there was a fire after all._

Not wasting any time, he ran as fast as he, crossing streets and turning corners until he suddenly found the route to be all too familiar. He hated that route, because he normally only used it to reach Smith, the person that he really despised right now. Still, if there's anyone that needed saving, he would save them, even if he hated them.

"Got here pretty early, huh?" He heard Kynan's voice as he got near the sight. The firelight was even more intense now, so he could easily make out the boy's shape.

"You're here as well?" he asked as he kept his legs moving. No time to be wasted.

"I just came across it and, just maybe, I am used to check things out when I hear a bang." He said, keeping up the pace.

Soon enough, they ran into Elsa as well. The only reason she claimed she was there was that she was curious, and had been bored to near death. It didn't take much time before the arrived at the scene. Katashi had guessed it right, it was Smith's office that was being attacked. There were only silhouette there, but it was clear that whoever caused the attack was not alone.

And, getting closer, he refused to believe what he just saw.

But there they were, as clear as crystal in the low-visible night. They were two identical Digimon, two Dragon-shaped Digimon. They were the two Coredramon. And they were the ones causing all this trouble. And behind them, faintly, he could see the shape of a human being.

Already guessing who that was, Katashi rushed forward and shouted. "Kaito, what're you doing?"

He answered him as he got closer, the Coredraomn still attacking the building. "Don't try to stop me."

"Are you insane or something?" The brown-haired boy asked, but was not answered.

"He did this." Said Kaito, whose shape could barely be seen in all the darkness. "And he needs to pay."

"Liollmon, stop them first!" Katashi said immediately, and Liollmon wasted no time to do that, Digivolving into GrapLeomon and rushing straight at the two Coredramon.

"You have to stop this!" He yelled as he jumped up high and gave one of the Coredramon a punch, taking away his balance and causing him to fall. He held on tight to the Coredramon such that he could not escape his range of attack. "Why are you doing this?"

"Don't think you're the only one to know anything." The Coredramon –Blue –answered. "Get out of it before it becomes too late!"

"It's you that need to be stopped." GrapLeomon said fiercely as he reached the ground, slamming Blue into the concrete floor, making it crack. Blue, however, wasn't easily defeated, and retaliated by swinging his wings with all his might, slapping GrapLeomon with them. A distraction was created, and GrapLeomon loosened his grip unintentionally, giving Blue the chance he needed as he flew straight backwards, escaping the pinning.

Before GrapLeomon could react, he was forced to the ground by a blast from above. Seconds later, he got up and got all his attention on the sky, which didn't really consist of anything at the time being. A strong shape flew towards him from behind and knocked him off balance, slamming on the ground.

"You can't stop us." Said Green, stopping to reveal himself.

"Why are you all doing this?" Katashi demanded. "At least tell me why!"

"Why? Isn't it obvious?" Kaito yelled back, fiercer than he had ever been. "Smith, it's all his fault that killed her."

"So you're planning on getting revenge?" Katashi asked, sounding aggressive. He didn't usually sound like that. "Is that why you're causing all this damage?"

Kaito didn't answer, but Katashi already knew what he would say. He just didn't want that to be true. "What about the others, then? What you're doing here, it's gonna hurt a lot of people, innocent people. You're okay with that?"

Kaito still didn't answer.

"Think about others. What would they think of you? Like your brother; what would he say it he knows you're doing something this terrible?"

"He would understand it." Rikuto's shape came out of the shadows, astonishing everyone.


	32. Brothers in arms

-Brothers in arms-

It started to rain almost instantaneously, as if they were inside a scene of a typical action movie, where the relentless raindrops were meant only to make things look a little more intense and interesting. But the truth was, it wasn't particularly great. The heavy rainfall did a good drop muffing their voices and the only effect it brought was that everyone now was more cautious as they moved.

"Why are you all doing this?" Katashi demanded loudly, though he could already figure out the answer himself. "I know you're sad about what happened, but that doesn't give you the right to do what you're doing right now!"

"You don't know how I feel!" Kaito said, almost in a snarl. "And don't pretend you do."

Katashi looked to the two Coredramon, who had now stopped their ravage and were now hovering behind the human twins. "You think what he's doing is right?" Katashi asked, then spoke to Rikuto, "And you're okay with what your brother's doing?"

The Coredramon answered first. "I know this is not the best way to deal with things, but I don't have any reason not to do it as well." Said Blue with a sigh. "I loved the village, too, and everyone in there. And I don't suppose that I should do nothing after having watched such massacre!"

"And we know who's responsible for it" Green continued. "Isn't it acceptable that we do the same on him?"

"And you?" Katashi turned to Rikuto. "You should know what you're doing's wrong!"

"I…" The white-haired boy started hesitantly. "I'll stick with Kai. That's the right thing that I should do."

"So it is inevitable to fight." Said Kudamon, glowing and Digivolving into Chirinmon, landing right next to his partner. LadyDevimon, who stood just behind him, however, laid back and turned around with an uncaring facial expression. Elsa, too, stepped back with her.

 _What're you doing?!_ That's what Katashi would have said, but he was a bit too preoccupied there, still hesitating whether to talk the brothers out of their greatly misled and unreasonable action. GrapLeomon, still coughing a little for the previous fight, took an offensive step forward, even though Katashi clearly didn't want him to do so. It was, nevertheless, reasonable, since he had to protect his human partner and friend with whatever means.

"Get out of my way." Kaito said emotionlessly and silently, making it hardly audible. "I don't want to fight you."

"Then you should be the one to step aside." Uttered GrapLeomon.

"So it is a fight then." The white-haired boy muttered. In front of him, Blue started glowing scintillating, temporarily blinding everyone there. Then Green did the same, making the illumination even more brilliant. When the light faded, which had taken some tens of seconds, there were Wingdramon and Grounddramon, both looking as hostile as they could be, the usual cuteness of then gone with it.

Instantly, Wingdramon charged forward, waving his wings dynamically and rushing straight towards GrapLeomon, who failed to respond in time and was taken by the airborne Digimon's grip, being sent high above in the grip of Wingdramon. He struggled, and punched the Ultimate several times in the face, but it was futile. Considering how far he was from the ground now, he dared not use any move that would risk Wingdramon losing his grip and sent him hurling straight to the concrete floor.

Blue, on the other hand, didn't care as much and, once he had attained a certain height, he slammed GrapLeomon right into the building's exterior, causing the wall to crackle, forming cracks on the otherwise smooth wall. Seizing this opportunity, GrapLeomon gave Blue a kick in his stomach, making him lose balance suddenly and loosen his grip. GrapLeomon then gave him another punch as he slid down to the ground using the building's wall to slow him down. Upon recovery, Blue charged at GrapLeomon again, but wasn't so lucky this time as the Ultimate swung his fists forward, successfully stopping Wingdramon and pinning him to the ground right after the punch.

On the other side of the battlefield, Chirinmon was having trouble dealing with Groundramon. It might seem that Chirinmon was a lot faster than Green, and so Chirinmon was able to commence several hits while drifting around Grandramon every time he struck, making Green unable to keep up. Those attacks, however, were quickly neutralized as Rikuto continuously gave Green several defense plug-ins and a good dose of recovery cards.

Chirinmon had been tired quickly facing the unrelenting defense of the Groundramon, and had lost his speed, making him vulnerable to Green. When Chirinmon attempted to do another round of his swift attacks, he couldn't. As he charged again, the arm-like structure on Green's back caught him right on, and stopped Chirinmon from advancing before throwing him away quickly and strongly with a swing.

"You can still give up now." Said Kaito, who noticed the defeat of Chirinmon, characterized by his degenerating back into his Rookie form.

"It should be you who should give up!" Katashi yelled as he rushed towards Katio, the wet and slippery floor forgotten. The rain was intensifying, making his vision less and less reliable. He couldn't even tell if the one before him was Kaito, the main boy responsible for the attack, or Rikuto, who seemed to be doing this plainly for his brother. Katashi walked up and held out a hand, grabbing Kaito's shoulders. "Please, you have to stop it."

Kaito quickly jerked reflexively and sent Katashi slamming into the ground. "You don't understand what I have been through." He said coldly. "You're just an idiot who knows only how to be a generic good boy. You really think that can solve anything?"

"At least I know when and when not to use violence as a means to achieve anything." Katashi replied, his hands pushing the ground to help him get up as he rose to his knees. 'Stop it! You look like a completely different person than the Kaito I know."

"That's because you never knew me before!" Kaito snarled, punching the brown-haired boy in the face and make him fall again. "You don't know anything, not the feeling of losing anyone you love. You won't understand, because you never did."

"No I don't understand." Said Katahsi. "Make me understand."

Back on the battlefield, Blue was putting up quite a fight with GrapLeomon. Though his movement pattern had been half deciphered by GrapLeomon, Blue still retained the advantage of being airborne, easily dodging almost ever hit from GrapLeomon simply because he relied on physical attacks too much. At the right moment, after GrapLeomon had jumped up a little and attempted to make a successful strike, Wingdramon drifted swiftly behind him and swung his wings powerfully such that the air current created was enough to knock his opponent to the ground.

GrapLeomon slammed onto the ground for who-knew-how many times. He wanted to ask Katashi for help, but he was clearly too busy dealing with the twins that he could hardly concentrate on the fight. GrapLeomon was on his own, and he didn't care about that. Rising slowly, he began to glow in a warm, bright orange light, and when the light faded, he had Digivolved into BanchoLeomon.

Being a Mega, BanchoLeomon's strength increased immensely, evident by the sheer distance that he could make Wingdramon flew unwillingly. When Wingdramon made a comeback again, BanchoLeomon could grab him in one quick and smooth motion. However he struggled, Wingdramon could not get rid of him, and was sent smashing onto the building wall. Being severely injured, he lost the strength to fly and was lying on the ground, barely keeping himself up by pushing the ground.

"No!" Rikuto uttered upon seeing Blue's defeat, and quickly moved to his side. He looked at his brother, who was still being confronted by Katashi, and was unable to do anything other than that. Rikuto's heart rate increased as he felt more and more nervous. His Digivice was the one that linked only to Green, which meant that the only one he could help was Green.

The worst thing happened next. When he was about to tell Green to go help Blue, an arrow of light came jetting from the sky and pierced Green's leathery skin, causing him to fall.

Before even turning around to see who the mysterious attacker was, Rikuto could already tell by the glowing arrow was from what Digimon. It was a bit too obvious, actually. There could be none but Valkyrimon, whom he had seen be a remarkable marksman. And that meant…

 _Ren._

He turned about and saw the girl in the shadows. She must have heard the explosion as well, he thought. The presence of her changed his heart a little, but he was still focusing on the fight and continued aiding both Green and Blue, ignoring the girl.

"What do you think you're doing?" She, however, wasn't about to just stand aside and let her friends fight for no reason. As she did so, she approached Rikuto and grabbed him by his shoulder, shaking him. He didn't retaliate, but didn't respond to her either. All he did was standing there as if he couldn't sense everything around him.

In the meantime, Green had recovered a little from the arrow and was now facing Valkyrimon, a Mega. There wouldn't be any chance that he could take her on one on one, and even with aid, the fight would not favor his side. Still, his determination disallowed him to just back off. Though being slow, he rushed towards Valkyrimon and readied his arm-like structure on his back, slamming the Mega into a concrete wall.

Valkyrimon dodged the attack with ease, drifting to Groundramon's left, but was hit by another strike from her right, losing her footing. Seizing the chance, Groundramon approached his target even more, ready to give a final blow, and he did, except, his attack, though hitting Valkyrimon right on, could hardly deal any damage to her at all. The Mega rose to her feet and crossed her arms, using the back of her limbs to shield herself as she pushed forward, knocking Groundramon back and regaining her footing.

Groundramon did not give up, and though incapable, he still fought the Mega nonetheless. Valkyrimon, on the other hand, was having a hard time deciding whether or not she should use all her might in the fight. Sure, they had become a threat, but they were also her friends, and she didn't really want to hurt any of them. That's the reason she hadn't drawn her blade or used her crossbow in the battle. Even the warning shot she had given to Green was a weakened version.

"You can't win this fight." She said as she dodged a charging from Green, drifting to his back. The Groundramon turned quick, and hit her with his strong tail. The blow caused Valkyrimon to stumble a few steps backwards, but she kept on moving to her front, determined to stop the twins.

* * *

The fight between Blue and BanchoLeomon had not yet come to an end. Though it had seemed that Blue had been defeated, he wasn't ready to give up yet. Struggling, with every muscle inside him complaining that he had gone too far and that he should take rest, he rose to his feet again, barely keeping himself balanced by flipping his wings.

"Please, just stop this!" BanchoLeomon said, but it did nothing to end the fight.

Just when BanchoLeomon was about to give a final blow and end the conflict once and for all, Blue started glowing again. That light, it could not be mistaken. The entire shape of the Wingdramon glowed, making it seem like some kind of electronic toys, except that his glow was a lot brighter and more menacing. The raindrops refracted the light, causing him to sparkle in the dark until the light intensity lowered and show the new shape of Blue.

He looked like a humanoid now, standing upright with two hands and tow legs. A gigantic cape was there on his back, and most of his blue colors had been replaced by a light shade of gray. Within his grip was a sword that looked too shiny and razor sharp. Blue had successfully Digivolved into a Mega.

"Slayerdramon, Mega, Vaccine type."

"No good." BanchoLeomon mumbled, barely escaping a surprise strike from the Slayerdramon. The difficulty of the battle had been changed completely, and now it was no easy job for BanchoLeomon to handle Blue. The two of them struck at the same time, with BanchoLeomon swinging his fist at his target and Blue slashing his blade at his. They collided and both stumbled a few steps back. BanchoLeomon had been slashed in the torso and Blue had been punched in the face, both half-standing. Before long, however, the two Megas struck again, and the result was the same.

"Why can't you just listen to us for one time?" Katashi was busy finding suitable words to persuade Kaito to end his revenge. "You have to stop it!" He couldn't recall the number of times he had said that.

And, unsurprisingly, there was nothing positive in Kaito's response. He seemed only enraged, and moved forth to punch the brown-haired boy in his face. Katashi barely escaped that, and blocked another punch from Kaito, but lost his balance due to the slippery ground, staggering backwards as Kait moved forth.

"Why can't you just get out of my way for one time?" The white-haired boy demanded, proceeding to fight Katashi, who didn't really want to, but blocked his attack in self defense.

Before he could get up, Kaito was already on top of him, pinning him down so that he couldn't do a thing, neither aiding BanchoLeomon nor convincing Kaito to stop. The Rain water fell straight to his eyes, making his vision blurry and his eyes sore.

Next to them, the fight between BanchoLeomon and Slayerdramon had almost come to a conclusion. BanchoLeomon was losing, his strength drained bit by bit in the fight; he couldn't even keep himself balance by now, not to mention dealing damage to a foe. Slayerdramon, on the other hand, didn't seem exhausted at all. He swung his blade fiercely and approached BanchoLeomon slowly, ready to give a fatal blow as he forced BanchoLeomon into a corner. Rising his blade, he was about to strike, but couldn't really do so.

On the other side of the battlefield, Groudramon was having a great disadvantage fighting Valkyrimon. Being a skilled warrior, Valkyrimon was having no trouble at all, fighting Green without severely harming him. But it wasn't quite the same way for Green. Again and again he struck, each time more carefully then the previous except that the prolonged battle had somehow cost his patience and he had started to loss concentration. Rikuto kept backing him up with defensive plug-ins, but things didn't go any better. It was plainly impossible to fight an experienced Mega without Digivolving.

Once that notion occurred to the Groundramon, he started feeling something new inside him. It was kind of odd, having this unknown sense in him while fighting a battle that he could not afford to lose. Around him, things started to be lightened, and it took only a little time for Green to notice that he was the one causing the pale green, yet bright light. Soon he was enveloped by the light, and when it faded, he had already Digivolved into his Mega form.

"Breakdramon, Mega, Virus type."

Now that he had Digivolved, he had gained a lot more advantages, with the first one being his immensely increased body size. He now stood tall, towering over his opponent.

Valkyrimon, however, didn't let that get herself distracted. Without hesitation she fired another arrow of light from her crossbow, only to find out that it just bounced off of the Breakdramon's thick armor. She fired several shots again, but the same thing resulted.

Green took the offensive side now. There were several drills linked to his armor, and he wasn't sure how to use them. Nevertheless, an instinct that he had gotten since the Digivolution allowed him to utilize his new weapons. While Valkyrimon was still keeping distance from Green and was preparing another round of ranged attacks that were destined to fail, Breakdramon closed in, or, simply turned to face the Mega. He was so gigantic now that he didn't really need to move at all when fighting. More arrows flew towards him, and all were in vain.

"Can't you just come to your sense?" In the meantime, Ren rushed to Rikuto and demanded, grabbing his sleeves and shaking him. Like how it had been, the boy didn't say anything. "Answer me!" Ren was about to get to her limits. She cared not about the rain that made her vision blur, nor did she care about the battle that was happening. She needed to know why her friend would do something such terrible, and she needed to stop him.

"You don't understand." Eventually, Rikuto talked. "I have to do this,"

"Why?" Ren demanded even more fiercely. "You know what you're doing is wrong, don't you? That's the reason you kept ignoring me, isn't that?"

No answer.

"Riku!" she yelled.

"I…I have to do it." He repeated.

"Even though you know it's wrong?"

"That's the only thing I can do." Said the white-haired boy. The battle around them and the rain had made it almost impossible to hear his quiet voice, but that was no obstacle to Ren. "Every time, since I was born, it had always been Kai to help me, whenever I'm in trouble, every time, though we're practically the same age. This is the time that I should be the one to help him out."

"So you'd even hurt innocent people?" Ren muttered. "That's not the Riku I know!"

"So you don't know me at all." He said lightly. "You do now. Get out of my way."

"Can't do it." she replied. "If beating you is what it takes to stop you, I'm doing it."

Right after she had said that, however, came a boom that was even louder than the rain. Before anyone could say anything, Rikuto witnessed a blast from Valyrimon being deflected was coming straight at Ren, and instinctively he ran towards the girl, trying to get her out of the way, leaping a distance that he didn't know he could. But that was still too late. When he got near the girl, the blast had already hit the ground near her, exploding. Pieces of rubbles went wild in all direction, hitting the girl at the back. He managed to get her out of the most intense zone, but she was still injured badly.

"Hey, answer me!" he yelled after he saw the girl closing her eyes. _This_ _couldn_ _'_ _t have killed her._ He thought. Still, though knowing that she was still breathing, he couldn't help but yell her name over and over again, each time having the same result.

Even her partner noticed it, and immediately she abandoned the fight, rushing to her side. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"I don't think she is." Rikuto mumbled.

:"I was asking about the both of you." Said the Mega. Green had already stopped rampaging even since Valkyrimon got distracted, his original goal forgotten. Rikuto nodded a little. "I'm fine. But she's…I think she might have got hit in the head." His words were so rushed and his eyes were wet with tears, making it impossible to hear what he was saying. He kept looking nervously at Ren and the battlefield, mumbling words like "Please, don't", "I'm sorry." But none of that had any actual use.

* * *

"You still want this to continue?" Katashi shouted at Kaito once he had seen what happened on the other side of the battlefield. There were only BanchoLeomon and Slayerdramon fighting right now, and the trend of the battle was clearly showing that Blue was on the winning side.

As for the humans, since Katashi had gotten knocked onto the ground, Kaito had kept him pinned to the ground so that the brow-haired boy could barely move, the rain hitting him straight on his face. Kaito looked at the side as well, and, unknown to him, he loosened his grip a little.

"I can't go back now." He answered, his voice filled with rage.

"It's still not too late." Said Katashi. He tilted his head a little, and saw his partner being forced to a corner by Blue, who was swinging his sword with an intense aura every time he moved up.

BanchoLeomopn was fighting a losing fight, that's for sure, but he wasn't ready to give up yet. "Come to your senses, please!" he uttered just after he barely escaped a slash. Behind him was a concrete wall, so he was having a hard time dodging other oncoming attacks. There was no way to win this by force, but he couldn't think of anyway to calm the Slayerdramon. It seemed that he was just as affected by Irene's death as Kaito was, making it even harder to win this by words.

Inch by inch, Blue advanced, swinging his sword with every movement. BanchoLeomon barely kept himself protected by putting his arms in front of him, shielding every strike from Slayerdramon, though it was less than efficient.

"If you really want to get revenge, than do it." Said Katashi, giving up. "I can't stop you, but I'm sure it won't make things any better. Please, reconsider."

"You know nothing!" Kaito snarled, landing a punch right on Katashi's face. Katashi didn't even intend to dodge that.

"If that's what it takes to calm you, then keep doing this." He said. "At least it is something I can endure."

Another punch.

"Yeah, let your rage out by this." Katashi said weakly. He could feel his face being hit by all those tiny raindrops. But if he hadn't opened his eyes, he wouldn't know that what hit him in the face might not be just the rainwater. He saw it clearly. Kaito was crying, or at least weeping. His tears mixed in the rainwater, hitting Katashi's face, and he didn't resist.

"You know nothing." Kaito said in his weak, shaky voice. He punched Katashi in the face again, but had no strength to do any real damage. "She's not coming back." he mumbled, dropping to his knees. "She's not coming back…" he kept mumbling the same sentence over and over, losing his strength in the process until he could no longer hold himself upright and dropped onto Katashi's torso. Katashi could be sure now. He was crying, and could do nothing else. He gently placed a hand on the back of the white-haired boy's head.

In the meantime, every sign of battle had been extinguished. Though having the upper hand, Slayerdramon had completely stopped advancing.

In there, a boy kneeled near the girl that he cared about, and another boy tried to calm the boy who hated him.


	33. The attack begins

Everything ended quite quickly and pleasantly. Nearly everyone left without saying even a word, as if being afraid that every single word everyone would say would make things worse. The rain continued, making the only sound they could hear right now.

* * *

Kaito lied on his bed, motionless, the door of his locked tight. There was absolute darkness in his room right now, and he was in no mood to let anyone but himself in; even his Digimon partners were no allowed. He kept staring at the ceiling that was so hard to identify seeing how dark his room was. Even as he closed his eyes, he couldn't help but see images of what he wanted to forget most. Over and over again Irene kept appearing in his mind. He missed her, but didn't want that to be the way to remember her, as someone who was about to die to save him.

His mind then drifted a corner and things turned to the battle that had just happened not long ago. He had wanted to take revenge on Smith, who was stilling living fine and well at the moment, blaming him for Irene's death. But now that he recalled the event, he didn't feel he had the right to do that. He had somehow convinced others, namely his family, that he had been doing the right thing.

He heard his door give out noises again. His mother, who had just knocked on his room's door not too long ago, was doing it again, hoping that it could at least get her son to come out of his isolation and have dinner properly. When the knocking sounds faded after a few seconds, Kaito knew she had given up. He felt bad for letting his mother disappointed, but couldn't find the strength to even leave his bed. Silently and reluctantly he buried his head in the pillow again, unable to get himself to move. It appeared as if he had had his tear glands overworked and now he had run out of tears. Still, he felt a sting in his heart every time he closed his eyes and saw his nightmares again.

* * *

Days had passed, and it seemed that everyone had forgotten one of their greatest threats. Not having shown his face for a few days, Cyberdramon had entered the final phase of his plan. He hadn't really expected to see the Destined fight themselves like that, but it had given him some advantages, as well as some entertainment. Nobody seemed to have discovered that some of Kaito's belongings –the bangle he obtained from Irene –had been dropped and left unnoticed. Though the cyborg Digimon didn't know what it was at first, he took it anyway. And as soon as he did, he began to realize that the most risky part of his plan had been accomplished.

 _Always nice to have someone do the work for you._ He thought. Though he didn't know initially what did that had to do with his goal, it was always good t o keep something dropped by the Destined. At least that way he could make sure that he had everything ready for the future.

Speaking of the future, he returned to the Digital World once more. There, he had basically taken most of the populated area with the help of Gulfmon, spreading fear throughout the Digital World as well as getting his servant as much data streams as he needed. The Gulfmon right now was almost invincible with his enhanced powers. No Digimon in the Digital World dared oppose him, and together his master.

That all happened right after the Digi-Destiend had left the Digital World.

 _Now all_ _I_ _need is to find that boy._ Looking over the world he had conquered, the cyborg Digimon told to himself.

He took another look at the bangale again once he had realized that it could lead him right to the source of the virus. Though it had always been just a backup plan, he needed that done as well. With that thought, and with something that he had done to make the bangle work for him, he traveled to take the last piece of puzzle.

* * *

Having promised Yuzuke, Katashi searched the streets carefully right after the night where the fateful battle had taken place. Though living quite far away, in another district, Yuzuki entrusted the work for him, for she had last seen Kaoru in Katashi's district. Though she was coming to help him as well, it was always better to start doing things quick.

And, unsurprisingly, a morning's work resulted in nothing. The streets there were a bit more complicated, but Katashi had gotten quite used to them since he had moved there. _It shouldn_ _'_ _t be that hard._ Thought him. There was no way Kaoru could have stayed in a hotel or inn of that sort, since there wasn't really much of a choice and, according to Yuzuki, Kaoru wouldn't have money to stay either way. That left him only one choice: to wander the streets and sleep there at night.

"Just where could he be?" Liollmon, who had accompanied Katashi for fear that anything dangerous should happen.

"I don't know." His partner replied. "But he couldn't be too far away. No way he could survive these few days without someone's help."

"Let's just rest for a while." The Rookie suggested. "It's no use just wandering around here. We've almost gone to everywhere possible and, to be honest, I'm a bit hungry."

* * *

An hour then went on without anything happening. When Katashi decided to resume looking for Kaoru, he got a phone call, and wasn't surprised to see that it was Yuzuki who called him. The girl had traveled much during the morning so that she was now there with Katashi.

"I thought you weren't coming." Said Katashi.

"I can't just leave things like this on others, you know." Replied Yuzuki. "Not that I don't trust you. I just think I shouldn't just others do my job."

"I'm not mad at you." The brown-haired boy replied. "And you practically gave this job to me, so maybe you can rest a bit."

"I don't need to rest. Anyways, let's just get it done quick."

And so they began searching again, crossing roads and exploring every alleyway as well as public facilities, wherever a person could gain access. Being a district where people were more concerned about their jobs, the afternoon streets were quite clear of any human beings. Every once in a while, there were groups of funky teenagers talking about something that only they would understand lordly in the public, since it's still the summer holiday and there were many students who could easily occupy the streets. Though annoying, it reminded Katashi of his life before he got into anything related to Digimon. And, looking at Yuzuki, he finally realized that they could probably never have a normal life like those other kids.

After an hour or so, they had found Kaoru, having sprite into two parties for a more efficient manhunt. Katashi found Kaoru first, in a quite quiet and remote park where there weren't even children playing. Having been sitting on a swing without doing anything, Kaoru kept his sight on the ground, like he did most of the time when he was lost in thoughts. Katashi shouted his name and he responded by looking up, and seemed quite relieved.

"What're you doing here?" the blonde boy asked.

"Looking for you, of course!" before Katashi could say a thing, his partner spoke the line. "There are people worried about you."

Kaoru's face darkened a little, showing a little astonishment. "You didn't tell her, did you?"

"Actually…" Katashi started. "It's Yuzuki's idea that we should look for you. And, being that way, she'll find us very soon."

Kaoru turned around silently, took his bag, which didn't really have much in it, and started to walk away from the others. Katashi grabbed him by his arm and said, "You're not leaving!"

"Let me go." Kaoru replied quietly. "I don't want to…"

"Even if you're in love with her?" Katashi couldn't help but let those words came out. "Why are you running anyway?"

"It's none of your business." Kaoru replied, shaking of his grip.

"Then is it not mine as well?" he could remember that voice. Kaoru turned his face around a little and saw Yuzuki just in the corners of his eyes. He immediately turned back and took a few steps away from her. It was obvious that he was avoiding as much eye contact with her as possible.

"Tell me what happened." Yuzuki said softly, approaching Kaoru. "The last time, when we talked, you said something about Millenniummon. You still haven't spoken to me what that is."

"Didn't I told you enough?" Said Kaoru, refusing to face Yuzuki. "There's a part of me that belongs to Millenniummon, Cyberdramon said so."

"But you're you!"

"I am, as of now." Kaoru muttered. "But what if Cyberdramon suddenly does something, and then makes me some kind of monster? What then?"

"You're not as weak as that." Said Jesmon. "Whatever Cyberdrmaon throw to you, you have you own mind. You can defy him if you want."

"Maybe I'm not that strong." Kaoru muttered, almost inaudible. "The last time, when I lost my memories, I easily fell to what Cyberdramon told me, and I cost so much harm to you." He chocked on the next few words, making it sound like some foreign language. Right at that moment, in his mind, a clip of TigerVespamon appeared again, and however hard he tried to suppress it, it just made him more painful, remembering how he had caused the death on his only friend. "I don't think I can ever be near you all again." there were tears running down his cheeks.

Yuzuki advanced and hugged him, pulling him into her chest even though he was still facing her on his back. "We will figure that out, so don't worry." She said softly, her head resting on Kaoru's shoulder.

"Yeah." Katashi added. "We'll just have to find Cyberdramon and end him once and for all before he gets the chance to do anything, right?"

Kaoru didn't say anything, but turned around slowly so that he was now face to face with Yuzuki.

Before anything could happen, however, a sudden blast of light flew towards them. being the only one to have noticed it first, Jesmon pushed the humans aside and tried to evade the blast too, but got hit, causing him to fall to his knees.

The humans rose up slowly and saw through the smoke created by the blast. A humanoid Digimon stood there, with staffs on either hand. Her head looked like nothing but a giant lotus.

Both three Digivices beeped at once. "Lotosmon, Mega, Data type."

"What is it now?" Liollmon mumbled and Digivolved into BanchoLeomon. He had gotten quite used to Digivolving now. Jesmon got up swiftly and ran to his side, the three humans staying behind them.

"Hey!" BanchoLeomon yelled. "Why are you even attacking us? I don't think we've even met before."

"If you don't want to get hurt, just step aside and hand me the human boy." Her voice was surprisingly gentle, but it also sounded a bit off, as if she were shivering as she talked. She took a few steps forward, raised her staffs, and started to run.

Without much of a choice, the two Mega had to fight this stranger. Jesmon, being the faster one, leaped forward with his blades ready, charging straight at Lotosmon with full speed. As expected, his opponent wasn't fast enough, and got pinned down by the white-armored Digimon before she could even make a move.

"What are you playing at?" Jesmon demanded. "Why did you want to take him?"

"It's none of your business." Said Lotosmon. "Serpent Ruin!" she yelled suddenly, and within a second a black aura started to form from the staff at her left hand. caught by surprise, Jesmon lost focus for a second, allowing Lotosmon to have the chance to escape.

Her luck was not complete, however, as there was still BanchoLeomon waiting. As soon as she got up, the lion Digimon jumped to her and landed a punch right on her face, causing her to loss balance a bit. He then revealed his sword and tried to aim it at Lotosmon, slashing. The previous hit, however, caused Lotosmon to fall off balance and thankfully it helped her avoid the attack.

In just a split second, she circled around BanchoLeomon and landed a hit on his back with the rainbow-colored staff on her right hand. BanchoLeomon turned quickly, but could not dodge the second hit. He held his blade up tight and countered it, barely evading the hit by pushing Lotosmon back.

In the meantime, as Jesmon recovered from the previous mistake, he went forward and assisted BanchoLeomon, grabbing Lotosmon, who was falling behind, by the hand and tried to slash at her, only it didn't really work. His strike, though, knocked Lotosmon's hand, and she dropped the rainbow-colored staff from her right hand. She swung the staff on her left hand furiously, but it did a little work helping her strike back. Instead, the hit was completely dodged by its intended target, and gave Jesmon a clearance to her unprotected part. Jesmon struck fast, hitting her in the abdomen, making her stumble a few steps back.

"You can't win against the both of us." Said BanchoLeomon. "Just surrender."

"No." Lotosmon mumbled, struggling to stand up straight. "I will get the job done, or he will…"

"He?" Jesmon demanded. "Whom are you referring to?"

There was no answer. Jesmon took another step forward and pointed one of his blades at the defeated Mega. "Tell us, who's behind this?"

Though without visible eyes, it was quite clear that the way Lotosmon would stare at Jesmon was one with utter hatred. She paused for a long time, her body barely moved. Everything suggested that she was considering slowly whether she should talk or not.

"Won't you just give up?" BanchoLeomon said. "Tell us what happened, and we'll let you go."

* * *

One of the most obvious results of the previous was that Ren had been hospitalized due to the damage she had taken during the fight. Though a few days had passed, she still had to stay hospitalized for further recovery.

Rikuto, worried about her, spent most of his time wandering around the hospital she was in, but never really had the courage to go in and see her with his own eyes. Most of the time, he would only wait until dusk had come before he would even get into the hospital. At that time, Ren was always asleep. During those times, he would silently and sneakily get to the patient room and look after her.

There were fewer workers there at night, so none of the staff really knew that Rikuto had been a regular visitor. That's good. That's the way he wanted it to be like. Even though he could only stare at her with a gigantic glass window, he was glad to see that she was making recovery. He always chose a time when he could be alone.

This time, however, was a bit different. Like he had been doing, he sneaked into the hospital unnoticed and waited until some of the more important staff had gotten back to their respective offices. Then he, like always, just looked for Ren's room. Most of the time, he would only look at her peaceful and innocent face when she's asleep. But this time, she moved.

He didn't notice that at first, so he kept standing outside the room and staring at her. But then, when he noticed, she had already moved her head a little and he could be sure that she had seen him. _Maybe she can_ _'_ _t make out who_ _I_ _was._ He kept that idea in his head, but his body automatically responded by turning around to the exit, losing sight on her. When he turned back around, she was already there, standing in the corridor. There were only the two of them, with utter silence filling the room.

"I thought you never came visit me." She started, her voice a bit not as energetic as she used to be. "And I thought you were such a heartless jerk. You could've at least come here and see me. That's what I had in mind, all the time." She approached him. "But here you are. Tell me, am I dreaming?"

Rikuto couldn't answer, though his face glowing red had suggested the obvious answer.

"So you do come to see me, after all." She said. Though still soft, she sounded a little happier.

Rikuto took a few steps forward, away from Ren, but stopped in just a few seconds. Reluctantly he turned back to Ren, who seemed just like what she usually looked like, except for that weird patient gown she was wearing.

The two got close together. For some reason, the guilty feeling in Rikuto was starting to fade. Perhaps it was because he knew that Ren had forgiven him, though it would usually made him feel a lot worse. Things were always different when it came to him and Ren.

Either way, in the silent and empty corridor, the two of them had come back to their normal selves again. Though unlikely, they seemed to have forgotten all about the fight previously, as none of them ever mentioned a word about it, as if evading the event that had broken them apart.

* * *

The interrogation with Lotosmon was very annoying. For some reasons, Lotosmon had not yet given out any information, even with the threat of her life. She didn't seem calm, though. There were neither resolve nor determination in her. She didn't even seem to want to fight, yet she was struggling to keep herself up and ready for battle, even though she knew well that she had already lost.

"Is it really that hard to say a word?" Katashi, who had been staying out of the fight with the other two humans, walked forth and asked.

"You're not the one he wanted." Lotosmon uttered. It only provided more questions, nonetheless.

"We know you're working for someone." BanchoLeomon said. Any attempt at scaring her was gone.

Kaoru, despite both Yuzuki and Katashi's protest, came forth. "You want me, don't you?" he said quietly. Lotosmon quickly nodded subtly, and everything became clear to the humans. "You're working for Cyberdramon, aren't you?"

"Who else?" said Lotosmon coldly.

"But why would you do that?" Jesmon asked. "You could have not listened to him."

"You know nothing." Said Lotosmon, her voice mixed with despise. "You've been staying here too long that you have forgotten to care about your own world, haven't you?"

"What do you mean?" BanchoLeomon demanded. "What happened to the Digital World?"

Lotosmon laughed dryly. "Now you care."

"Just tell us everything, would you?"

"No one disobeys him now." The Mega started, her voice trembling, worse than before. "Cyberdramon has gotten the entire Digital World to listen to him."

"How?" Katashi showed a perplexed face. "The last time I saw him in the Digital World, he wasn't even powerful enough to beat a single Mega Digimon. How would someone like that take over the Digital World in such short time?"

"You don't know what he has." Said Lotosmon. Before she could say another word, however, a portal appeared just right next to her. There wasn't much noise this time, so she could not react fast enough like the humans did. Failing to flee, she found a spear penetrating her body before she could even make sense of why the humans were backing off.

"I thank you for your service." A voice all too familiar was heard as Lotosmon slummed over and disappeared into data streams, leaving only a Digi-egg behind.

"I'm not surprised." BanchoLeomon mumbled at the sight of Cyberdrmaon. "Finally decided to do things yourself?"

Cyberdramon didn't answer him. He simply walked forward as if the two Mega Digimon by his side were nothing to worry about. The two Digimon, of course, stepped in between the cyborg Digimon and their human partners.

"Stay away from them!" said Jesmon, readying his blades. "You can't fight the both of us."

"Who said anything about fighting?" Cyberdramon continued his talk, totally ignoring Jesmon. He kept pacing forward, forcing the others to take a few steps backward whenever he advanced.

"What have you done in the Digital World in such short time?" BanchoLeomon demanded, but didn't strike, though he really wanted to. There was always something more than meets the eyes about this opponent. "I thought you have had enough when we left."

"Sure you're not surprised to see that I have plans beyond your understanding?" Said Cyberdrmaon, in a mocking tone that quite annoyed the others. He seemed to be completely enjoying himself, not even posing as if he could single-handedly handle whatever was coming for him. "Now give me the boy." He demanded, his voice instantly dropping low and, for once, he sounded scary.

"Like we'd let you!" the two Megas stepped in. BanchoLeomon had had enough, and lost his cool for a while, rushing forward and swinging his sword towards Cyberdramon. Cyberdramon didn't dodge the attack, but blocked it with his wrists, pushing BanchoLeomon backwards a little.

"Won't you just shut up for a while and listen to what I have to say?"

"Then what do you have to say?" replied Kaoru, who had moved to the front of the group without notice. "You tried to control Millenniummon once, and it didn't work out quite well, so what are you planning this time? To get yourself killed again?"

"I never did anything to try to _control_ that beast." Cyberdramon replied. "But you used the word quite correctly in this case. When Millenniummon is back, he will be under my control."

"How?" Yuzuki demanded as she laughed sarcastically. "You couldn't even put up a fight last time."

"That's exactly why I said I didn't have to fight." Said Cyberdramon, the purple things on his visor started to beep in a random pattern, as if signaling the emotion of the Digimon. He turned towards Katashi, who seemed to be the least involved person there, and said in a light tone like a child laughing. "Remember your quest?"

"No way…" Replied Katashi. "That virus, there's no way any living person could get to there at all."

"Not without these." Said Cyberdrmaon, holding out the bangle that Katashi had thought left to Kaito's possession.

"How did you get that?" he asked. "And how did you even make that work?"

"I have my ways, child." Cyberdramon said proudly. "And now, I think there's been enough talking." He advanced, but the Destined kept their distance. "I'm losing my patience."

"We won't let you do whatever you want, you know that, right?" said Jesmon, his voice menacing.

"You know you can't stop me, right?" Cyberdramon responded in the same tone. "I don't really need to hold back, you know?" as he said that, a dozen more Gates appeared, and from them came all sort of Digimon, ranging from weak and powerless Fresh to seemingly incomparable Mega.

"Good news is that, they are all under my command." Cyberdramon said proudly. "And I don't really need you now that I have an entire world at my disposal." And then, right behind him, another Gate appeared, larger than any others, and the colors were more intense and there were a lot more noises, indicating that something way more powerful was coming out of there.

In a blinding purple light flashing from the Gate, a giant shape appeared. It was one that looked familiar –Gulfmon, only that, this time, he was way larger than he should be, towering over most of the buildings there.

"Now you see what I used to maintain my rule in the Digital World." Said Cyberdramon. "And soon, he will be the one that enables me to take over your world as well."


	34. The Finale

-The finale-

"Don't care about me, go get the others." Said Kaoru, who sounded surprisingly calm at the moment.

"No!" Yuzuki said almost instantaneously, as if Cyberdramin wasn't even there. "We won't leave you alone, especially with that freak!"

"But you are the only ones that can fight." Kaoru insisted.

"That doesn't makes it right."

"I won't be harmed, trust me." Said Kaoru, his eyes more than sincere at the moment, as if he was going to cry if they didn't listen to him. "He needs me." He added lightly.

"He's right, we have to go." Katashi said to Yuzuki, holding her arm, preparing to drag her to the direction where the Digimon were rampaging. "We can't waste any more time."

Reluctantly Yuzuki nodded, and turned, running away with Katashi and their respective Digimon partners. Kaoru saw them leave his visible zone, and then turned back to Cyberdramon again. "So, what is it that you want with me?"

"Haven't you figured that out?" the cyborg Digimon answered. "Part of Millennummon lives inside you."

"That doesn't do you any good." Said the blonde boy. "I won't just turn into Millenniummon or act like it. And there's absolutely no way I can have the powers that monster possessed."

"That's why I call you naïve." Cyberdramon replied coldly, unlike other times when his words were full of chaos and lacked menace. "You will see it soon."

"You will see your failure soon." Said Kaoru, though his voice trembled because of his uncertainty.

* * *

"Just how many are there?" BanchoLeomon complained as he dodged an incoming strike from an Airdramon behind him and quickly knocked it out with a single hit, only to be hit by another Digimon from behind. He could care less about what species that Digimon was, having completely no time to do so. All he could do was to keep fighting until it worn him out.

"To your left!" Katashi shouted. Responding in time, BanchoLeomon was able to dodge a hit and instsantly taken down the Digimon that was about to strike. Most Digimon there weren't too tough on their own, but they were annoying nonetheless, being in a mass number. It seemed as if the fight would last forever.

"Is it what it's like the less time they attacked?" Yuzuki asked after being saved by Jesmon from a crumbling building. "I don't like to recall that, but I really can't think of anything else."

"Pretty much the same." Katashi replied. "To your right!" he shouted to his partner, distracted. "Except I was more running than fighting." He continued.

Two more attacked them from behind, clearly targeting the humans. Jesmon was fast enough to notice that and taken the humans swiftly, carrying them away from harm. "Stay in somewhere safe." He said to the two, who protested immediately. "Then who is there to be your eyes and ears?"

"We can handle it, but we can't risk letting you.."

"Above!" the both of them shouted, and Jesmon responded by looking up, where he found a flying Digimon dashing right towards him. With a quick move he took that Digimon down with ease. "See, you need us, just as we need you."

"Alright." Said Jesmon reluctantly.

They returned to the battlefield quickly, and saw that the situation hadn't gotten any better. _Where the others in a time like this?_ Katashi couldn't help but wonder. He remembered that most members from his team had not connected ever since they had returned to the city. Though he had no right to call them forth to help him, he hoped that they were fighting somewhere as well, protecting whomever they could.

It was exactly at that moment that he heard something from high above, a voice that he could somehow recognize. He looked up, to a building where the top floor was blinded by sunlight. From there jumped a Digimon with a crossbow on her hands, taking down multiple Digimon as she descended.

"Nice job, Valkyrimon." Said another voice from behind.

"Ren!" Katashi turned and saw the girl. Instinctively he ran towards her, and was a bit surprised to see her there. "I thought you were still in the hospital."

"No time to waste there, you know." She answered with a smile. "We've still got a job to do, haven't we?"

"Let's do it then."

Together they battled more, and though they were fighting without really receiving any serious injury, the mere number of enemies was more than capable of driving them mad. They just kept coming, wave after wave, as if all the Digimon from the Digital World had decided to make an appearance and make a mess out of nowhere.

"Won't they ever give up?" BanchoLeomon complained as he defeated another one. "They're not that good in fighting anyway."

"I don't know, why don't you ask them yourself?" Katashi replied casually, though he had no idea that he had just pointed out the most crucial point. Slowly he remembered what Cyberdramon had said about him getting control over all of the Digital World. If that was true, then it could easily be explained why there were so many Digimon attacking at once despite their lack of capability of putting up a fight. "BanchoLeomon, I think you really should talk to them and see if that would help."

"I'm a bit busy right now." His partner replied, though he actually did listen to Katashi. "Hey, why are you all even fighting us? What's the point of it?"

The Digimon on rampage didn't answer, and yet their movement seemed to be halt a little and they had become less aggressive. They were still fighting, but were even worse than they had done before. Seeing that it was working, BanchoLeomon decided to give another call and see if they would be moved by it. "We don't want to fight you."

They stopped completely after that. A Toucanmon walked out from the lot, looking quite beat up and sad. "There is no other way than this." He said numbly and shakily. "We are ordered to do so."

"By that Cyberdramon?" Valkyrimon asked. "Is he really that terrible?"

"There is no choice. He has the virus, and he has this Gulfmon. And whoever disobeyed him gets killed." Now the tiny Digimon was shouting. The others that had previously stopped had started to move again, and this time they seemed more determined that they had been before. The entire conversation was rendered useless.

"Get ready." Jesmon mumbled. Before any one of them could attack, however, a blast from behind hit some of the Digimon, causing them to fall backwards. Though they had never really used a formation, the fallen Digimon crumbled backwards and knocked some of the others down as well. They were not trained to fight, anyway, so it seemed only normal that the sudden strike could affect them so.

Turning around, the Destined saw faces that they had never for once seen before. There were a bunch of kids, probably around the same age as them, and all of them were came packaged with a Digimon partner, though none of them had really achieved Mega.

"Who are you guys?" Katashi asked.

A boy from them smiled as he walked front, looking as if he represented the entire group of Tamers. "You don't know us?"

"Why should I know any of you?" the brown-haired boy said, confused.

It happened a moment after that. Ren, taking a look at the strangers, immediately recognized one of them, and she was certain that she wasn't mistaken. She walked towards the group with a smiling face and greeted them, acting as though she actually knew them.

"John!" she greeted the boy. "Haven't seen you for a while."

Confused, the other Destined looked at her with questioning looks.

"He's one of my old classmates from the Institute." The red-haired girl said. "That was before I quit."

"Really?" Katashi mumbled. He had no knowledge regarding that so called Institute, which functioned more like a school. The last thing he remembered was that he had heard of its opening, which Yuzuki had greatly opposed. It seemed now that the decision hadn't been a mistaken one.

"Leave these to us." Said John. "I think you've got something more important to do, right?"

"How did you know that?" Ren asked, and John simply replied by giving a smile. Having no more reason to stay there for the endless fight, the three of them rushed out of the horde of Digimon as the Tamers cleared a path for them.

"It's all because of Cyberdramon." Katashi said while running. "I think we should go back to him and take him down first."

"Agreed."

"Let's hope the others had gotten there first." BanchoLeomon mumbled.

* * *

"We can't just keep on fighting like this." Said Chirinmon, finishing another Digimon. It had only been a few days that they could finally live peacefully, but then all in a sudden, Digimon started to appear and flood the entire city. Worse, most of them were dangerous ones. Though tired, he and his human partner had been fighting since they had appeared.

"There must be a source to it." Kynan commented as Chirinmon dodged another strike.

"I know that." Said Chirinmon, dashing swiftly and knocking out a few of them. "But we don't know where exactly is this source."

Kynan lowered himself and rolled on his stomach as a few Digimon rushed towards him, firing energy beams at him. "They're getting more and more annoying." He complained silently as he dodged another strike, not even having a chance to stand up straight.

"There's getting more and more of them." Said Chirinmon. 'We can't stay here any longer; they're outnumbering us."

"Where to go?"

"Anywhere but here."

Without any hesitation, Kynan got on Chirinmon's back swiftly, holding him by the neck as the Ultimate started to charge and expand his already large wings, taking off at once. From up above, the view of the Digimon rampaging looked like something he didn't want to remember. For a while, he thought he was seeing his home being burnt down again, but he got to his senses luckily. _There_ _can'_ _t be allowed to have any of these again._ He thought.

Though he never really used it, he took out the Digimon the people there gave him, and switched to the channel to inform the others, only to find out that Katashi had already sent a message to the team concerning the rampage. Included in the notice was a set of coordinates suggesting the possible location of Cyberdrmaon.

'We have our destination." Kynan said to his partner.

"Then let's go."

* * *

Katashi and the others rushed to the center of the city, where an evacuated building that had once belonged to the highest class of the society. It was also the place that housed Smith's office, so it wasn't particular hard to get there in time. They had been to that place for far too many times.

Upon reaching it, the Destined rushed towards the top floor of the building, where they believed Cyberdramon was. on the way there, however, there were surprisingly few Digimon standing in their way. To be more precise, the Digimon that had been placed there as guards had all been defeated by someone.

"Who's there?" Jesmon demanded as they ascended the stairs. The building, despite being a tall one, was fairly wide, having a surface area that looked exactly like putting four standard basketball fields together. The Digimon on this floor had all been taken care of, so what was left behind must be whoever had done this."

A tower of blue flame came out form a corner, though it didn't really hit anyone. Coming out from the smoke was a dragon-like Digimon, one that Katashi immediately recognized.

"Blue!" he yelled before he even knew it himself. He had almost forgotten that after the precious fight, he had never seen the twins again. He had tried to contact them, but they had never really replied his messages.

And while Katashi was busy thinking that, Ren had already rushed towards where the flame came from. Despite the hindered vision, she was sure that he was there, and she hadn't seen him for quite a long time that just the thought of it was more than enough to push her over.

"So you're here." She said at the moment she met her eyes with his. Directly she hugged him, and could feel that Rikuto was more than embarrassed at the moment. "I knew you'd come."

"But how did you know I'm here?" The white-haired boy uttered. Groundramon came out from behind him. "We've only just reached here."

"We were here because we're tracking down Cyberdramon." Katashi explained. "And, by the way, where's Kaito?"

Rikuto shook his head and looked down for a while. "He…he still won't let anyone in."

"Not even us." Said Blue and Green grimly.

"Anyway, we should get going." Said Yuzuki. "We have to take down Cyberdramon quick."

"And who might you be?" Rikuto asked, confused. "I don't think I've seen you before."

"You don't know her?" Ren uttered. "She's one of the six Digi-Destined that saved the world a year ago."

"And I should have met you in the Temple, but it's alright that you don't remember me." Said Yuzuki. "Anyway, just get going. And nice to meet you."

* * *

His room was always dark, even when the sun outside was shinning scintillatingly. He had shut all the curtains and locked himself in for more than a week by now, not interested in anything outside. The only thing that could lighten his room was the computer that he kept turned on, though he didn't really care if it's turned off or not.

Kaito was still keeping himself always from the others in his depression. He hadn't seen a human face for quite a long time, including his. Being completely isolated from the outside world, the only thing he could think of was how useless he had been, not being able to protect someone he loved, and getting mad to the point where he had tried to kill someone for it. Now his mind was empty.

"We should get going." His mother knocked on his doors. "The outside is a mess, and your brother's nowhere to be seen."

It did nothing to get his attention. He was still lying on his bed facing the ceiling, not cared if anything should happen to him.

His mother said the exact same words again, but still couldn't get his attention. It was only until she repeated for the third time that he noticed something was wrong. Not only her voice, but also some noise from the outside as well. Lazily he climbed off his bed and checked his computer. The first thing he saw was the headlines of the online news, which described the horrible situation out there. Digimon were rampaging everywhere.

That caused a bit of an impulse inside of him, and he immediately pushed the curtains covering his windows and let the light of the outside in. The real thing looked even more terrible than the images he saw on the Internet. There were fires everywhere, though not too serious, and bombing-like noise was sent to his room again and again, indicating that someone was smashing something continuously.

Instantly he rushed out of his room, only to find his mother sitting by the dining table, looking worried.

"What happened, mom?" he asked gently.

"Didn't you see the news?" his mother replied. "Luckily they haven't come here yet. We should get to somewhere safe." She paused a little. "And the three of them are nowhere to be found right now."

"Three of them?" Kaito mumbled. _That_ _'_ _d be Riku, Green and Blue._

He looked at the sad eyes of his mother one more time, and placed a hand on her shoulder, sitting next to her. "I'll go get them here." He said. "And, if possible, I can stop this rampage."

"Because you are a Destined?" She said quietly. "You haven't talked about it for days, so if you don't want it, we can just evacuate like all other citizens. Don't push yourself too hard, though I know you can handle it."

"I'm not sure what I'll do either." said Kaito. "But I guess it'd be alright."

"Just do what you want to do." His mother replied. "As long as you don't get yourself in danger."

After a moment of hesitation, Kaito finally made the decision. Slowly he rose and walked towards the front door, bringing with him nothing but his Digivice. As soon as he had gotten out of the house, he started to run immediately, running towards the place where Rikuto would be.

* * *

"So Elsa's busy handling them in her district as well?" Yuzuki uttered.

"I'm not sure, but I guess she would be." Said Katashi. "But I haven't heard of anything from her since she returned. She wouldn't be the only one there as well, so she should be fine."

"And let's worry about our current situation first." Kynan suggested. "What we are fighting, there might be more Digimon up there waiting for us, some of the more aggressive and stronger ones. We need to break through them first."

"And I believe we have enough here?" Said BanchoLeomon. "Because ready or not, Cyberdramon won't wait for us. We should strike now, when there's still time for the element of surprise."

"So, let's do a quick round up here." Said Ren. "First, we have six Digimon on our side, five of which can Digivolve into Mega."

"Four." Rikuto corrected her. "Without Kai, Blue can't get to Digivolve."

"Anyway, it seemed to be enough." Said Green. "It's time to go."

Right at that moment, a familiar voice came. "Wait for me!"

All of them turned and saw Kaito rushing towards them, stopping as he approached them, his hands resting on his thighs, panting. "Sorry I'm late." He said between breaths.

"So you managed to come." Rikuto said lightly. "You're late."

Kaito walked closer to them. "I…just…I think I should be here doing something as well when the rest of the world is falling apart."

"And you're sure you can handle this?" Katashi asked him gently. "It's okay to go back now. But as we ascend, there will be no turning back."

"I'm ready." The white-haired boy said. "I lost something before; I don't want the rest of the suffer the same fate of mine."

"That's some touching speech, but we really should be going by now." Said Kynan.

The path up there remained relatively stable, though, much to their surprises. But that was something reasonable. They had, after all, only walked one-forth the height of the entire building, and already they had started to feel a little out of their capabilities. The building was just too high.

* * *

As fast as they could, they still hadn't gained enough speed. By the time they reached about three-forth the building, their legs were already screaming for rest, but the pain was suppressed at the state of urgency. One misfortune was that all the elevators in the building didn't seem to work. But even so, they could make progress.

As they stepped to the fiftieth floor, however, things started to change. The long and exhausting run had ended, and there, right directly from them, was a usable elevator, probably one of the few that were usually reserved for higher-class workers.

In front of the elevator, however, stood another Digimon.

"Diablomon, Mega, Virus type."

"Guess we have to fight our way through."

Wasting no time, the Destined began to attack. Blue and Green, in their respective Ultimate form, charged first, with Blue releasing streams of blue fire at the Diablomon while Green was closing in for some physical attacks. Diablomon, however, evaded with ease and got to the back of Green in no time, slapping him using his overly long arms, making the bulky Green lose footing.

In the meantime, Jesmon rushed towards Diablomon as well, positioning his blades into a crossed shape. Diablomon, being an agile one, dodged the attack as well, and tried to do the same thing to Jesmon, but missed. The both of them landed, distancing themselves. As Jesmon prepared for a second strike, Diablomon leaped forth and kicked Jesmon in his face, knocking him off balance.

But then, a flame strike hit Diablomon for the first time, the smoke of it covering the sight. When the air cleared again, they could see it had been Blue who did the job.

"Go first!" he shouted to the others. "Leave it here for us!"

"But you can't just be left here alone!" Yuzuki said.

"We're not alone." Green said, getting up to his knees. "You guys are stronger. You go ahead!"

Reluctantly the others did as they were told, reaching for the elevator while both Blue and Green stayed behind.

"You sure you can get it done?" Kaito asked his partner, who winked at him and answered. "Of course."

"And you think forcing us to stay here won't get you any consequences?" Rikuto said, complaining.

"No time to talk about that now." Said Green. While they were having a conversation, Diablomon had gotten back to his feet and was ready for a second round. This time, though, he seemed a bit more furious than before.

"And you're working for Cyberdramon as well, or what?" Kaito demanded, though he had only learnt the kink between Cyberdramon and the rampage recently. "Can't we settle this without fighting?"

"And why would I do that?" the Diablomon asked. "When I can have all the fun?"

"So he's just another freak who wants nothing more than a fight." Blue uttered. "No matter. If it's a fight he wants, so be it."

* * *

"What are you planning to do anyway?" Kaoru asked, though he didn't look at Cyberdramon straight in the eyes. "You want to make Millenniummon alive again so that it can kill you again?"

"You're quite a talkative one, aren't you?" said Cyberdramon. "I thought you would be a lot quieter."

Kaoru didn't answer. He simply hoped that he could see the others soon. Though he had been the one to tell the others to clear the rampage first, he somehow wanted to see them here to deal with Cyberdramon quick.

"That's a lot more like the you I know." Said Cyberdramon. "Aren't you going to ask why I have not killed you yet?"

"Because you need me; you said that yourself."

"That's one of the reasons." Cyberdramon replied. "As for the others, I think you should have known them quite clearly yourself."

Kaoru didn't even want to face him, turning his head a side. "Why would I know?"

"Because we worked together for quite a while, and I quite miss those days, to be honest."

"You mean you used me for a while." Said Kaoru. "Your plan won't last long. They'll stop you."

"I'd like to see them try." Cyberdramon said dryly.

 _Please, hurry!_

* * *

It didn't take long to make it to the top floor with a workable elevator. The first thing they saw was exactly what they had expected –Cyberdramon, and by his side, Kaoru.

"I should welcome you, shouldn't I?" said the cyborg Digimon. "Dare I ask, how did you end up here?"

"We figured Kaoru would be with you." Said BanchoLeomon. "So we tracked him down instead."

"Now." Said Jesmon, pointing his blades at Cyberdramon. "Release him and surrender."

Cyberdramon walked up slowly. "Why would I?"

"You're being surrounded by all of us." Said Katashi. "You really think you'd stand a chance against us?"

"Less talking and more action." Cyberdramon uttered. "But as far as I remembered, I don't even need to fight you hand to hand."

"You won't have the time to do anything else. Trust me." Said Valkyrimon, aiming her crossbow at Cyberdramon and rapidly fired a couple of shots. Cyberdramon, being an agile one, dodged the attacks with ease. But behind him, the others had acted as well. Just as he thought he had evaded the crossbow, a punch from behind pinned him to the ground, making him lying, facing the ice-cold floor.

"Thought you'd be better." Said BanchoLeomon, the one who had punched him. He didn't even give Cyberdramon a chance to rest as he rained numerous punches on the cyborg, though each punch did little harm to him due to all his armor. Cyberdrmaon retaliated, kicking BanchoLeomon with all his might, successfully getting him off. As he rose to his feet, however, Valkyrimon had already targeted him and fired a couple of energy arrows at him. Not having any time to dodge, Cyberdramon took all the hit, which managed to only damage him as much as making him slide back a little.

"Don't you remember the service you have done for me?" the cyborg said, a bit more like snarling, but not as aggressive. "This armor is something you can't hope to penetrate."

"I'm not quite sure about that." Said Jesmon, who was on Cyberdramon's right and dashing towards him. Before he could hit him, however, he jumped up high and landed on his back, turning around quickly like a car drifting and slashing him with the force the turn created.

Cyberdramon stumbled a few steps backwards as he was hit. It was very subtle, but he did see it. cracks started to cover his armor, small cracks, but cracks nonetheless.

"Seems you're not quite sturdy as you thought."

Enraged, Cyberdramon set his target on Jesmon, rushing towards him with his spear. His path was, however, blocked by Chirinmon, who was dashing towards him with full speed.

"An Ultimate won't stop me!" Cyberdramon muttered, completely ignoring Chirinmon's attack, facing him head on. Without much surprise, he easily took down the Ultimate, and still hadn't lost his speed as he proceeded to Jesmon. Nearby, Valkyrimon fired a few more arrows at him, but he took them head on with his armor and ignored them as well.

Jesmon was, nevertheless, prepared for the strike. He remembered who his opponent really was –the evil mind that was once known as Piedmon, who directly caused numerous tragedies. He, too, would show zero mercy to his opponent, much like Cyberdramon would. As the two of them come together, he swiftly slashed Cyberdramon with one of his blades, and then kicked him in the stomach and pushed him backwards.

Cyberdramon showed little to no pain at all. He was well protected by his armor, but that didn't stop him from being struck. Jesmon never stopped attacking once he had the chance, and though they were doing minimal damage, Cyberdramon had no chance to retaliate, only being able to stagger backwards step by step. Jesmon didn't give up, and struck especially hard when they neared a window. The glasses that formed the wall was shattered as Cyberdramaon turned and flew straight out of the window, flying up high.

"He's gotten to the roof." Said Jesmon.

"We'll just have to pursue." BanchoLeomon said. "The elevator still works, right?"

Yuzuki stayed behind as they left. "I should stay here." She said. "I can't leave Kaoru behind."

"It's alright, you should go with them." said Kaoru himself. "I can only stay here and be useless, while you can help them."

"No way I'm leaving you here." Said Yuzuki.

"If you stay, so do I." Said Jesmon. "You need protection."

"Then we'll go ahead." Said Katashi, wasting no time for goodbyes. Now wasn't the time for goodbyes yet.

* * *

Blue had already Digivolved into Slayerdramon. As for Green, since Breakdramon was too large in size, he could only fight in his Ultimate form. That, however, didn't make him any less confident. Diablomon was fast, but so was Blue. Within a few moments after the Digivolution, the fight had become some kind of a blur, with streaks chasing one another.

"Won't he ever get tired?" Blue muttered as he successfully injured Diablomon for once. The both of them stopped, making it possible to see their proper outlines.

Diablomon slammed into a wall –a concrete one, that is. They were still glad that the glass windows that replaced the walls were left untouched. Who knew what might happen if they brought the fight to the outside.

Not giving him any chance to rest, Slayerdrmaon rushed forward with his blade firmly gripped, raising it up as he closed in and slashed Diablomon, who dodged the attack only by inches. The demon Digimon then proceeded to strike in surprise, hitting Blue in the face with his large palms. As he started to pursuit, however, a heavy weight slammed in his back, making him lose balance and falling.

Seizing the chance, Green rushed and hit Diablomon with his clubbed tail, sending him flying to a wall. Blue seized the chance as well, rushing towards Diablomon and slashed him, successfully wounding him. Diablomon, being closer to Green, targeted him first. He leaped towards the Groundramon and readied his overly long arms, waving them like wipes as he used his hands to slam on Green, pushing him a few meters backwards. He didn't stop there, pursuing and cornering Green, who could do nothing but keep backing up. They soon reached one of those glass walls, and Green had no choice but to be thrown out of it, leaving it into a million of shards as he fell off the building.

"No!" Rikuto rushed towards Groundramon, but could nothing but watch him fall. As he descended, however, a strong light enveloped Green. Seconds later, he had Digivolved into Breakdramon, surviving the fall with his unusually thick and protective armor.

At the same time, Blue was busy dealing with Diablomon, who had gained an upper hand somehow while the Destined watched Groundramon fall. Now the direction of the battle was completely in Diablomon's control, and he did what he had done exactly, forcing Slayerdramon to back off with continuous strikes, leaving him no choice but to end up getting closer and closer to the broken wall, the glass shards glistening with light. At the final struggle, he managed to take on Diablomon's attack for a while, ignoring the pain and the damage it inflicted, and made a u turn, getting to the demon Digimon's back and pushed him off the building instead before he leaps forwards and followed the Diablomon as they descended.

At the same time, however, he didn't notice that both Kaito and Rikuto had thrown themselves at Slayerdramon and grabbed tightly on him, getting down alone with him on the way. The sensation of free falling made them feel a bit dizzy, and the landing was way worse, but they managed to have survived that.

"Why did you do that?" Blue asked immediately after discovering that his human partners had done such reckless an act. "Glad you're all right."

"I'm glad too." Said Rikuto, turning to Green. "I thought you would squeeze someone to death."

"Now's not the time to talk like that!" The Breakdramon uttered.

Diablomon, on the other hand, didn't seem too well. He was lying on the ground, struggling to get up. but when he did, he was ready to fight again, leaping from roads to roads as he advanced, making his attack pattern too random to be recognized.

Despite that, Blue managed to catch Diablomon during one of his surprise strikes, and didn't hesitate to throw him towards Green, who had had his drills ready. As Diablomon flew unintentionally into position, all the spinning drills were directed towards Diablomon, hitting him right on, sending him flying towards one of the taller buildings, leaving a dent on the otherwise clean wall. Rubbles fell, splattered all over Diablomon.

"That's should serve him fight." Said Blue.

"But now we're too far away from them." Rikuto remarked, looking up at the building, where the fight between the Destined and Cyberdramon could only be seen as tiny dots. They did not, however, notice that the pile of rubbles shone suddenly, and by the time they realized it, the rubbles had been blown to every direction, leaving a spider-like creature in the center.

"What's that?" Both of them exclaimed.

The Digimon was quickly recognized as Armageddemon, a Mega Digimon.

"We can take him down as well," Said Blue. "We have beat him once before."

"Yeah. Let's go!"

The two of them rushed towards Armageddemon, using their usual attacks, which meant that Slayerdramon slashed while Breakdramon rushed with his drills. The attacks landed, but never did much damage to the Armageddemon.

Not even moving, the Armageddemon opened its mouth and fired a large ball of energy from it, hitting Blue and Green head on. The power was so great that a shockwave was even created, pushing the Digimon backwards while their human partners crumbled.

"It's a tough one." Said Blue, who got up immediately and prepared for another strike. Green, on the other hand, being a more heavily armed one, was able to withstand the attack and was back to the offensive side, ramping Armageddemon with his shier size. That, however, did nothing good. Despite his mass, he couldn't even move Armageddemon for one inch, as if he was rooted to the concrete floor.

Blue Jumped high and decided to strike from the back of the Armageddemon, descending right on his back with his sword posed straight, ready to stab the giant spider-like Digimon. He did it without Armageddemon's notice, but even as his blade penetrated Armageddemon's body, it didn't do much damage, and Armageddemon easily shook Blue off his back, sending him flying towards the ground as he readied another of his attacks, his mouth cavity glowing bright orange. In just the next second, Armageddemon fired his energy breath, sending fireballs towards the two Mega Digimon as if they were mere Rookies. He didn't stop there, as he fired numerous energy blasts continuously. The heavy smoke created blocked the human's eyesight, so they couldn't see what was happening to their partners. The only thing they knew was the scream.

Next thing they saw, nevertheless, was a blinding white light that shone bright even in broad daylight.

As the smoke and the glowing were both gone, so did the Digimon. There were no longer two Digimon, but only one, almost double the size of either Slayerdramon or Breakdramon. The scale didn't really matter anymore.

As soon as the Digimon could be seen, the only thing he said was, "Pendragon's Glory!" and then all they could see was a beam of laser hitting straight towards Armageddemon, causing an immense explosion.

* * *

"Nowhere to run now, do you?" Said BanchoLeomon as they entered the roof. Cyberdramon, on the other hand, didn't seem scared at all. Before he even tried to say anything, the Destined struck first, with BanchoLeomon rushing towards him right away and Valkyrimon using her crossbow to provide supportive fire.

Cyberdramon agilely dodged some of the shots, and started charging as well, his lance intercepted with BanchoLeomon's blade. They held on their weapons firmly, and wouldn't let go, each one exerting a forward force trying to outmatch the other. That, however, didn't really worked for long, as Cyberdramon gave up his position once he noticed the backup from Valkyrimon. Taking the chance, BanchoLeomon ran faster than he had ever done and slashed, leaving a rugged opening on Cyberdramon's armor.

"Guess yours isn't really that good." He said as the readied another slash, only to be kicked in the stomach by Cyberdramon. In that instant, Cyberdramon retaliated by hitting BanchoLeomon even more as he backed off, punching him in the face and advancing, forcing him to a corner. There, on top of the building, stood the two Mega. They were at the corner, and BanchoLeomon couldn't take any steps back anymore.

"Hope you enjoy the view down there." Said Cyberdramon coldly as he readied to give an additional kick to BanchoLeomon and pushed him off the buildings.

Before he could do that, however, he felt something hurting his back, and when he did realize that, he saw his body being penetrated by a saber, which stuck out of his chest. Turning back as far as he could, he saw Valkyrimon standing there. The Mega withdrew her sword, and Cyberdramon couldn't help but slum over.

"You think you have won, don't you?" he said, barely keeping himself standing, but dropped to his knees. Then, from nowhere, he took out a tiny test tube, sealed tightly, with something colorless glowing there. "This is the virus that you have helped me find." He said, his voice sounding more and more mechanical with each breath, "And now, you shall get a taste of it."

"Not so fast!" Chirinmon dashed forwards as he realized that Cyberdramon was about to throw the entire tube to them. He got there just in time, and the tube landed on the lying Cyberdramon, shattering.

"How ironic," Said Cyberdramon in his dying breath. "The force that I intended to use to control Millenniummon again, would be the one to turn on me." He turned his head slowly to the Destined. "And who would have thought, that you would win by backstabbing."

Proper or not, Cyberdramon soon shared the same fate that he had done to other Digimon, turning into dits of data and dispersed across the air.

"So that's it?" BanchoLeomon mumbled. He turned to Valkyrimon. "Thanks for saving my life."

The humans, too felt a bit strange that the menace they had faced for so long had ended in such a simple way. Looking down the building, they could sense nothing but the fear of falling all the way down to the ground. From there, however, they could see something else as well. Though not clear, it seemed to them that the rampaging Digimon had stopped, which made no sense at all. Since they had just killed Cyberdramon and they shouldn't have heard of his death in such short time.

As the descended to the ground, however, they could see the reason for that.

At the base of the building was a giant Gate, a lot larger than the ones they usually saw, standing right there. Nothing came in or out, for the time being. But its existence alone had installed fear into the rampaging Digimon already, so this was probably a bad sign.

"How're you doing?" They united with the twins, though their Digimon partners wasn't there and a strange, dragon-like Digimon was now following them. Yuzuki and Kaoru had made it to the ground as well, joining the others.

"It was a tough fight." Said Kaito, pointing at Examon. "But at least he helped us a lot."

"Who's he, by the way?" Katashi asked.

"According to the Digivice, this is a Digimon called Examon, the result of Slayerdramon and Breakdramon Digivolving together." He said with a sigh. "But we haven't found a way to turn it back into two yet."

An impulse from the Gate blew all of them away.

The Digimon surrounding it had all fled, some of which seemed to be running in fear away from the Gate. When Katashi could get back on his feet and see properly, the Gate had already vanished, and what replaced it was a giant Digimon, almost half the building they had been in height, and just its body size could cover the sunlight so well that it seemed that night had come too soon.

When he looked around and was sure that all the others had managed to stand up, he immediately rushed out of the shadow. Then, he could see clearly the gigantic object that blocked the sunlight. it was Gulfmon, or at least what Cyberdramon had made him into. He was way too big to be a single Digimon, almost four times his original height. His look didn't change, but clearly he could no longer talk, only letting out grunts and snarls.

"What's that thing?" Yuzuki exclaimed as she dragged Kaoru with him to a safer point. Kaoru, on the other hand, could remember the shape of this Digimon too well. He had worked with it, and he had seen him take his only friend away from him, an event that somehow made him remember his past. Just by looking at it, he already felt himself crumbling inside.

The others had already gotten into the front of Gulfmon and made a plan of attack in that instant. Before Gulfmon struck, both Valkyrimon and BanchoLeomon leaped forwards and jumped up high using some of the crumbled buildings left by the previous battle and attacked him head on, slashing him straight in his face. As expected, however, there had been no damage to the massive Digimon at all.

"How about this?" Valkyrimon uttered as she landed on the back of Gulfmon and jumped up high again, aiming her crossbow at Gulfmon's head and firing a dozen of light arrows. They all hit the target, but hardly did anything at all.

Tackled, Gulfmon turned and slammed Valkyrimon, who was still airborne, into one of the other shorter buildings, making dents on their walls. BanchoLeomon, on the other hand, got out quickly and struck from another angle, but still couldn't hurt Gulfmon a bit. Jesmon came to his aid and attacked with BanchoLeomon together, all aiming at the head, giving Gulfmon the slashes that finally seemed to have hurt him, making his head shake and then jerking around, throwing both Digimon aside.

"Just how are we supposed to fight this monstrosity?" Uttered BanchoLeomon.

"Strike bit by bit, until it falls." Said Jesmon, already charging again at the giant Digimon. Like the previous round, he struck hard and high, leaving small wounds on Gulfmon, and then escaped from its grapes just before it had a chance to strike. The others followed as well, giving out all they have and damage Gulfmon slowly. It was a long process, but just within seconds, they could already see that Gulfmon was starting to weaken, slowly losing his straight posture and slumming down as if it were about to fall asleep.

Exxamon helped by firing more laser beams, all of which hit Gulfmon, making large explosions on its skin while the others dodged the blast agilely and inflicted small damage on Gulfmon. Gulfmon, on the other hand, couldn't really aim right at his small targets. He kept using physical attacks that didn't do all that well to gain him a win. Frustrated, he screamed. And that wasn't just any other screams. That was the Dead Scream, hurting all who could hear it. The Destined humans couldn't take it; they couldn't help but keep their palms stuck to their ears, and the Digimon, though having a better resistance, fell as well, losing all the might for attack.

When the scream stopped, Gulfmon started to move again. BanchoLemon and Jesmon were the fastest to recover, and they charged at the beast at once, hitting him in the head, where most of the damage had landed on. They used the same tactics as before, but this time he didn't seem to care about it at all, shoving the two Mega down his torso with a single swipe.

Gulfmon then started to open his mouth –not the one on his head, but the one attached to his lower half. As it opened, it started to suck in everything around it –leaves, dust, and piles of rubbles, everything that was around him. The Digimon anchored themselves with their weapons stabbed firmly to the ground while holding on to their human partners to prevent anything from happening to them. Those that didn't have much weapon to anchor themselves –Chirinmon and Examon, could only resist the storm by standing their ground really hard.

"That's it." Kaoru, who had been caught by Yuzuki on his sleeves, suddenly said. "That's his weak point." He muttered.

"What?" Yuzuki asked; she hadn't been able to listen to him too well.

"Hit that mouth!" Kaoru shouted. "That's where he's most defenseless!"

"We're a little busy here." Said one of them. It didn't matter who said it now.

"I can do it." Said Examon, flying towards Gulfmon's front, where the sucking force was the strongest. He kept himself steady by his sheer strength, and was hovering just in front of Gulfmon.

"What're you doing?" Kaito yelled. "You could get yourself killed!"

"I am the only one who can do it." Said Examon, beginning to charge his laser beam. He didn't care how much his two human partners –his family –yelled at him telling him not to, and just seconds later, he fired the laser straight at the opened mouth on Gulfmon, damaging him from the inside. Gulfmon staggered backwards, stumbling, couldn't get himself to stand properly. The sucking force, however, was still there, and Examon, who had used up all his strength for the laser, couldn't help but be drawn closer to Gulfmon until he, too, was absorbed into the gigantic Digimon.

"Nooooooo!"

Then came the explosion. A large one, whose force was able to blow the humans and Digimon away for almost a street's length. When the humans regained consciousness from the strike, they immediately went back to the scene,

There, filling almost the whole atmosphere, were data bits, streams that hovered in the sky without doing much of anything. Their presence there made the Human World look just like the Digital World, and amongst them stood two Babydmon. Not just any Babydmon, but Blue and Green. The twins instantly rushed towards them.

"Thank god you're alright." Said Kaito as he hugged Blue hardly, tears rolling down his cheeks. "I was so worried about you."

"But here I am." Said Blue.

On the other side of the field, Kaoru scanned the entire area again and again. _It_ _'_ _s no use._ He thought. _I should just accept it._

 _What are you doing?_ That's what Yuzuki would have said, but she remembered it too well about that day. She also remembered Kaoru's face as he learnt the truth about him getting his friend killed. He was looking for anything that resembled TigerVespamon, no doubt. But, as hard as he tried, there were no signs of him being there.

And then he suddenly felt something rolling towards him, hitting his foot.

"A Digi-egg?" he muttered, looking at the Digi-egg that landed next to him. Curiously he took the egg, leveling it to his chest. Somehow, he felt a feeling resembling that of the first time he had come across a Digi-egg. He remembered the first time he met his friend when he was still living in his isolated and concealed life. He never really had properly welcomed TigerVespamon for joining his life.

At the same moment, cracks started to appear on the egg. Though astonished, Kaoru dared not drop the egg, for fear that it should break apart as hit the ground. A warm light came from within the egg. And the next second, the entire egg was gone. In his arms he was hugging a Digimon, a white Digimon with blue leaf-like ears on it. His eyes wwere confirmed to be black as the tiny Fresh Digimon opened them.

"I see you again." The Digimon –Pupumon –said. "How have you been, Kaoru?"

This time Kaoru did drop the Digimon to the ground. "It can't be." He mumbled. He didn't really remember much of TigerVespamon when he had still been a Fresh, since he hadn't even let him in his life at that moment. But right now, looking at the cute and charming being, he couldn't help but let tears escape his tear ducts. "It is you, isn't it?"

The Pupumon nodded, though it didn't really have a head, so he just moved his entire body instead.

"But…how?" Kaoru asked, he didn't really care if people see him cry now. "I thought you'd not remember me anymore." \

"I don't know." Said Pupumon. "I can't remember everything as well, but when I see your face I started seeing visions, memories, of my previous life. And…"

There was no chance for Pupumon to say anything anymore. Kaoru hugged him hard so that he really couldn't do anything. "Thank you." He heard Kaoru mumble. "For getting back to me." But then he hesitated a little. "I'm still..."

"You don't have to worry about that." It was Jesmon, behind. "We understand that there's a part of Millenniummon inside you. But as long as you keep yourself human, like you have been, there shouldn't be much problem."

"But I..."

"Knock it off. You need to get back to Yuzuki smiling. She loves it when you smile."

"I guess I'll try." the blonde boy said quietly as he left fot Yuzuki.

On the other hand, the humans were discussing something different.

"So all this data, they belong to the Digimon in the Digital World." Katashi mumbled. "I think we'll need to help them get back home."

"What'd you mean?" BanchoLeomon asked.

"Someone needs to guide them back to the Digital World." Kynan finished the sentence for him. "WE still have a means to get to the Digital World, don't we?"

Katashi nodded.

"Then it is easy." Said the black-haired boy. "I can guide them back."

"You're volunteering?" Katashi said in confuse. "Why?"

"I haven't really done anything good, and it seems that all of you have your happiness here. I shouldn't ruin your fun and get you to work already." Kynan replied. "Besides, it is an easy job. I can probably get it done within the day."

"So, good luck." Said Katashi. "And though, you seemed like you're always too serious around us. It's okay to open up yourself here. We're friends."

"Thanks" the black-haired boy answered. "But I should get going. You go celebrate with your friends."

"No need. We'll wait for you."

"Another reason for me to get to work so soon." As he said so, the gestured to Chirinmon and the two of them headed to the building where the teleporting machine was held.

"So what do we do now?" asked Ren. "I mean, with all this destruction, we'll have a lot of clean up to do, won't we?"

"We won't." Said Rikuto. "Smith will get someone to clean up, I'm sure."

They all laughed at that sentence.

"But really, we should think of something fun to do together." Katashe uttered. "We're still in the summer holiday, you know."

"So what do you propose?" Liollmon asked him.

"Well, I don't know." The brown-haired boy replied. "But I have a bold idea."

Everyone stared at him.

"How about we go to a beach together?" Said Katashi. "I remember people used to go to those places for fun."

"There's no beach in this city, you know." Kaito added.

"But we can move around freely." Said Katashi. "And I bet somewhere outside of our city, there'll be a place where we could do whatever we want and be stupid to have some fun."

"So, you seem determined." Jesmon said.

Katashi nodded.

"Nobody objects?" he asked. "Then let's go!"

* * *

 **And that's the conclusion to the entire serious. There won't be any more sequels, since people don't really care about it and I am going to be extremely busy the next year. For those who have been reading this serious, I can't express my thanks enough. Though it is not a famous one on the site, I really appreciate all of you who keep reading it; it's the best thing to get me motivated.**

 **And now, for one last time, I 'll say. "Please leave a review down there to show your support." Thank you very much.**


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